Saraswat Bank, ADAC tie up to provide soft loans to students

Mumbai: With an aim to take advantage of the current boom in the multimillion-dollar entertainment industry, Mumbai-based premier digital arts and animation training academy ADAC has launched vocational courses has and tied up with Saraswat Cooperative Bank to provide soft loans to its students.

Under the unique arrangement, ADAC (Academy for Digital Arts and Communications) will absorb the interest on the loans, making them totally interest-free from the students'' point of view.

Says ADAC joint managing director Vibha Khandelwal: "The idea is to fully encourage creative students who need financial support. A unique feature of the loan scheme is that the EMI payment begins after one year of disbursal of the amount, making the ''Learn Now, Pay Later'' scheme effective."

Saraswat Cooperative Bank will provide study loans to the extent of 90 per cent of the total course fees. Students could just submit the forms with necessary documents at ADAC centres and they need not bother about queuing up at the bank branches.

Students, who are already employed, can apply for the loan on the basis of their salary slips. And, in case of non-working students, their parents or guardian could join them as co-applicants. The monthly income eligibility in both the cases is Rs 5,000. For businessmen his last three years'' IT returns could be considered for sanctioning the loan.

Says a Saraswat Cooperative Bank spokesperson: "The loan is repayable in 36 equated monthly instalments (EMIs), and what is even more beneficial to the student community is that the first EMI becomes payable only after one year of the disbursal of the amount."