Major lending firms on Tuesday announced reduction in their home loan rates, days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monetary policy review asked financial companies to transmit the benefit of past policy rate-cuts to consumers.Commercial bank major ICICI Bank reduced its home loan rates by 25 basis points or 0.25 percent for all existing and new customers. The new rate will now stand at 9.90 percent effective from April 14. The bank said that women as well as applicants from weaker sections will get a special home loan rate at 9.85 percent. India’s second largest housing finance company Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) revised its home loan rate to 9.90 percent per annum with effect from April 15.
“The reduction in the interest rate reflects our commitment towards enabling home ownership in tier-2 and tier-3 towns for each and every Indian especially in the LMI (lower middle and middle income) segment," said Kapil Wadhawan, chairman and managing director, DHFL.On April 12, the State Bank of India (SBI) had also cut its home loan interest rate up to 25 basis points.First off the block to cut the home lending rate was HDFC, the country's largest mortgage firm which reduced home loan rate by 0.2 percent to 9.90 percent.