What is EBLR and how is it different from MCLR?

EBLR (External Benchmark Lending Rate) is linked to an external benchmark, usually the RBI repo rate, and resets within 3 months of any change. MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds Lending Rate) is internal to each bank, calculated from their cost of funds, and resets at the tenor you choose (e.g., a 1-year MCLR loan resets once a year). EBLR loans pass through rate cuts faster; MCLR loans are stickier in both directions.

Which bank offers the cheapest loan rate today?

HSBC Bank has the lowest EBLR today at 5.25%. The RBI repo rate is at 5.25%, putting HSBC Bank's spread over repo at 0 bps.

How does the RBI repo rate affect my loan?

If your loan is on EBLR, your rate moves directly with the repo rate, within 3 months of an RBI change. If your loan is on MCLR, you see the change only at your next reset date (typically every 6 or 12 months). Loans booked before October 2019 may still be on older benchmarks (Base Rate or BPLR), which reset even more slowly.

What is the spread over repo, and why does it matter?

Banks lend at repo plus a spread. The spread reflects their cost of operations, risk premium, and profit margin. Comparing spreads across banks tells you who is charging the most. A 50 bps difference in spread on a ₹1 crore loan is ₹50,000 per year. The spread is your negotiation lever when shopping or refinancing.

Should I refinance my loan?

If your existing loan was booked at a higher MCLR or older benchmark and the cheapest current EBLR is more than 50–75 bps lower than your effective rate, refinancing usually pays back in 12–24 months on a typical home loan. Factor in processing fees, stamp duty, and the new tenor before deciding.

Capera

Best loan rates
in India

The lowest external benchmark lending rate today is 5.25%, offered by HSBC Bank. We benchmark 15 banks against the RBI repo rate of 5.25%, every day.

Live · updated 11 May 2026·EBLR & MCLR · Public · Private · Foreign · SFB

Repo rate

5.25%

RBI policy rate

Cheapest EBLR

5.25%

HSBC Bank

Cheapest 1Y MCLR

8.35%

HDFC Bank

Banks tracked

PSB · PVT · FOREIGN · SFB

The rate stack

From the RBI's policy rate to your loan, to your deposit.

Banks take in deposits at the bottom of the stack and lend at the top. The gap between the two is the system-wide net interest margin: the bank's spread on every rupee that passes through.

01 · Cost of policy

RBI repo rate

5.25%

Where banks borrow overnight from the RBI

See full curve

02 · Cost of borrowing

EBLR

7.61%

+236 bps over repo

1Y MCLR

8.83%

+358 bps over repo

15 banks · external benchmark vs internal cost

03 · Return on deposit

Average 1Y FD

6.60%

Gap to EBLR +101 bps · to MCLR +223 bps

See FD leaderboard

The system-wide net-interest-margin sits at +101 bps on EBLR-linked loans and +223 bps on 1-year MCLR. EBLR resets within 90 days of any repo move; MCLR loans typically reset annually. A CFO with both an idle-cash FD and a working-capital line is paying both sides of whichever benchmark their loan sits on.

Banks vs bonds

The premium a corporate pays to borrow from a bank instead of the sovereign.

For each tenor: average 1-year+ MCLR across 15 tracked banks, set against the same-tenor G-Sec yield. The gap is the bank's spread, and the floor on what a comparable corporate bond would price at.

Tenor MCLR G-SecSpread

3-month
MCLR
8.51%
G-Sec
5.27%
+324 bps
6-month
MCLR
8.31%
G-Sec
5.44%
+287 bps
1-year
MCLR
8.83%
G-Sec
5.86%
+297 bps
2-year
MCLR
8.91%
G-Sec
6.23%
+267 bps
3-year
MCLR
9.01%
G-Sec
6.39%
+262 bps

Average MCLR across 15 banks · G-Sec from RBI curve · as of 11 May 2026

Capera observation

1-year MCLR averages 8.83% across 15 banks vs the same-tenor G-Sec at 5.86%, a spread of 297 bps. That is into the band where rated corporates start running bond issuance math.

Most retail home loans price off EBLR (repo + bank's spread). Most corporate term loans and pre-2019 retail loans sit on MCLR. Treasury teams have a third option: raise a bond at G-Sec + a credit spread of roughly 75–150 bps for an AAA.

When the MCLR-vs-G-Sec spread exceeds ~250 bps at a given tenor, the bond route typically wins on all-in cost for issuers with capital-market access, even after factoring legal, listing, and rating fees.

See the full sovereign curve →

The leaderboard

7 / 15

Sort byEBLR 1Y MCLRCategoryAll Public Sector Private Foreign Small Finance

BankEBLR1Y MCLREBLR spread vs repo

HSBC Bank leads on EBLR at 5.25%. On 1-year MCLR, the cheapest is HDFC Bank at 8.35%. Tomorrow's leader can be different, since banks revise on different schedules.

Capera observation

EBLR runs from 5.25% at HSBC Bank to 9.15% at Axis Bank. The gap of 390 bps is worth ₹39,000 per crore per year.

Lending vs deposit spread

What each bank charges, vs what it pays back.

Toggle between two reference combos: EBLR loan against a 1-year retail FD, or 1-year MCLR loan against the same FD. Banks rank by widest gap.

A note on what this is, and isn't. Most real-world exposures don't sit on these exact rates. Treasurers park idle cash in money-market funds, T-bills, or shorter FDs (3M/6M, not always 1Y); corporates borrow on negotiated MCLR spreads or working-capital lines, not raw EBLR. Use this as a comparable benchmark across banks, not a P&L of your own positions.

Compare

10 banks

5.9%

7.6%

9.3%

EBLR − FD

BankEBLR − FD

1-year FDEBLRGap

Capera observation

The average bank charges 155 bps more on loans than it pays on deposits. Axis Bank runs the widest gap at 290 bps. Every rupee that sits there is paying both sides of the spread.

The Rate Compass

Where each bank sits on the borrow / save grid.

What each bank charges to lend, plotted against what it pays you to deposit. Medians split the chart into four pricing strategies. Top-left is where customers win on both sides; bottom-right is where the bank does.

Narrowest gapRBL Bank-100 bpsWidest gapAxis Bank290 bps

Hover a marker for the bank · click to open

Depositor side

Best FD rates in India

15 loan banks → 39 deposit banks · top 1Y rate live

Bond yields

India yield curve

3M to 30Y G-Sec yields · the risk-free benchmark

Frequently asked

Questions, answered.

For CFOs

If you hold cash and carry debt at the same bank, you're paying both sides of the spread.

Capera continuously observes deposit and lending rates across the entire Indian market, routes idle cash to the highest yield, and flags when your loan is priced above the cheapest alternative.

How Capera works

Best loan ratesin India

From the RBI's policy rate to your loan, to your deposit.

The premium a corporate pays to borrow from a bank instead of the sovereign.

The leaderboard

What each bank charges, vs what it pays back.

Where each bank sits on the borrow / save grid.

Frequently asked

Questions, answered.

If you hold cash and carry debt at the same bank, you're paying both sides of the spread.

Best loan rates
in India