Public sector lender, Central Bank of India, in a bid to deepen its penetration in the education loan industry has decided to offer loans to students who enroll for courses from vocational training institutes which are National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) approved.

Also students who are preparing for entrance examinations to enroll in institues like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Pre-Medical Test (PMT), Indian Administrative Services (IAS) will be offered financing by the bank provided they are coaching under a reputed institute.

CMD S Sridhar spoke on the issue saying, "There is huge shortage of skilled manpower in the country. Taking a step in this direction and in order to bridge the gap, we have planned to finance students who are seeking courses in vocational training institutes supported by NSDC. Recently, we have tied up with Hyderabad-based Institute for financing their students who are undergoing training in vocational skills and depending upon the success, we would be extending this facilities to other vocational training institutes."

He added, "From now, we will finance students preparing for IIT, IIM, PMT, IAS and are taking coaching from reputed institutes".

NSDC is a non profit company which has been set up by the finance ministry under Section 25 of the Companies Act.