Everything about an Indian home loan, in plain numbers
How a floating rate works, what each RBI decision does to your EMI and tenure, when it reaches your loan, and what to check before you buy. 43 guides, a glossary and answers to common questions. Updated 1 November 2026.
How an RBI decision reaches your home loan
Five steps from the policy announcement to your EMI or tenure. The example is a loan on the repo rate.
- 1
RBI announces a rate change
The RBI sets the repo rate. On 7 October 2026 it raised it by 0.25%, from 5.25% to 5.50%.
- 2
Your benchmark moves
If your loan follows the repo rate (EBLR), your benchmark moves with it. MCLR and fixed-rate loans follow their own terms.
- 3
Your reset date arrives
The new rate applies at your next reset. RBI requires a reset at least once in three months, so the wait can be up to nearly three months.
- 4
Your EMI or tenure changes
Tenure grows by about 9 months and you pay about Rs 3.1 lakh more interest.
Example: Rs 42 lakh left, 8.15%, 210 months, a 0.25% rise.
- 5
LoanRepo shows your numbers
LoanRepo takes your own loan through every rate change. Run your loan, find your reset date, or see what a part-payment before it would change.
The five-minute version
Your rate has two parts
A floating-rate home loan charges a benchmark plus a spread. Since 1 October 2019, RBI has required lenders to link new floating-rate retail loans, including home loans, to an external benchmark, most often the RBI repo rate. That is the EBLR. The spread is the lender's margin on top. Lenders are free to set it, and on an external-benchmark loan the credit-risk part can change only if your credit assessment changes substantially, as your agreement says. Older loans may still follow MCLR or an earlier benchmark, which move on their own terms.
A rate decision reaches you at your reset
RBI requires the rate on an external-benchmark loan to be reset at least once in three months. So a decision does not change your loan on the day. It reaches you at the first reset on or after the decision. A decision the day before your reset reaches you almost at once; one the day after can wait nearly three months. Your sanction letter states your reset date.
Then it shows up as a higher EMI or a longer tenure
If the rate rises and your EMI stays the same, more of each instalment goes to interest, so the loan takes more months to clear. Some lenders raise the EMI instead. For a Rs 50 lakh, 20-year loan that follows the repo rate, the 0.25% rise of 7 October 2026 adds about 4 to 16 months and Rs 1.6 to 5.9 lakh of interest if the EMI stays the same, depending on the year the loan was taken. These are illustrative: they assume a 2.65% spread and a quarterly reset, and your own figures differ.
What you can check next
- Find the benchmark, spread and reset interval in your sanction letter.
- Run your own loan through every rate change in the free diagnosis.
- See what a part-payment would change before your next reset.
- If you are choosing a loan, compare offers on the Key Facts Statement, which shows the charges and the APR.
How a floating home-loan rate works 5 guides
A floating-rate home loan has a rate in two parts: a benchmark that moves, and a spread your lender adds on top. These guides explain the benchmarks, how they differ, and what the spread costs you over the years.
EBLR, MCLR or PLR
What each benchmark means and how a rate change reaches each one.
Read →EBLR, MCLR and PLR calculator
What the same rate change does to each type of loan.
Read →Spread explained
What 0.25% of spread costs you over 20 years.
Read →Fixed or floating?
A break-even rate to compare fixed with floating.
Read →EMI calculator vs LoanRepo
Same loan, two answers: why a plain EMI calculator misses rate changes.
Read →RBI decisions and the repo rate 6 guides
The RBI's policy decisions set the repo rate, the benchmark that many floating-rate loans follow. These pages cover each decision, the calendar and the full history.
RBI decision, 4 December 2026
What a hold, a hike or a cut would do to a typical floating-rate loan. Updates when the decision is announced.
Read →RBI decision, 7 October 2026
The 25 bps hike to 5.50%: the India-wide impact, a check for your own loan and a Rs 50 lakh example.
Read →RBI policy dates 2026
Every monetary policy meeting this year, and when the next decision lands.
Read →Repo rate history, 2005 to 2026
Every repo-rate change since 2005, with today's rate.
Read →RBI cut the rate, my loan rate did not fall
Why a repo cut does not always reach your loan, and what decides when it does.
Read →RBI date vs your reset date
Why your EMI or tenure moves later than the policy date.
Read →Before you buy or sign 9 guides
The EMI chart a lender gives you assumes today's rate for the whole tenure. These guides show what a rate rise does, how the tenure changes the cost, and how to read the offer in front of you.
Before you take a home loan
The stress test the EMI chart leaves out: what a rate rise does before you sign.
Read →EMI calculator before you buy
What a rate rise does to your EMI and end date.
Read →The hike, if you are about to buy
Will your EMI or tenure change if you borrow now?
Read →20, 25 or 30 years?
EMI, total interest and rate-rise stress for each tenure.
Read →EMI per lakh chart
EMI per lakh from 7% to 10.5% over 10 to 30 years.
Read →Total interest calculator
How much interest you pay on 20, 30 or 50 lakh.
Read →Compare home loan offers
Decode the Key Facts Statement from each lender and compare the real cost.
Read →Key Facts Statement: insurance and fees
What the statement shows about insurance and charges, and what to ask.
Read →The buyer's guide
A 13-chapter guide written on your own loan plan. Rs 199.
Read →Your loan after a rate change 8 guides
A rate change does not reach your loan on the day. It arrives at your lender's next reset and shows up as a higher EMI or a longer tenure. These guides show how to find that date and what changes.
EMI after the 7 October hike
How the hike can raise the EMI on a loan that follows the repo rate.
Read →Tenure after the 7 October hike
How many months the hike can add if your EMI stays the same.
Read →Why your tenure increased
What changed on your loan statement after the 7 October decision.
Read →Higher EMI or longer tenure?
What your lender may change after a rate move, and what each choice costs.
Read →Find your reset date
Where to look in your sanction letter, and how to estimate the next one.
Read →Reset date by bank
A ready reckoner of reset timing, set beside the RBI dates.
Read →Remaining tenure calculator
How long your loan will last at today's balance, rate and EMI.
Read →Loan against property
What a rate change does to the EMI and tenure of a loan against property.
Read →Part-paying, switching and exiting 6 guides
A lump sum paid against the loan can shorten the tenure or lower the EMI. These pages show the numbers, whether to keep the money invested instead, and how to check whether a switch pays back.
Part-payment calculator
What a part-payment does to your tenure, EMI and interest.
Read →Prepaying after the hike
The part-payment that undoes the 7 October rise on your loan.
Read →Part-payment to cancel the extra tenure
How much to pay to cancel the months added by a 0.25% hike.
Read →Part-pay or keep it invested?
Put the same money against the loan or leave it invested, and see what each does.
Read →Spread check and switch break-even
Compare your spread with a new offer and see when a switch pays back.
Read →MCLR to EBLR switch
What a change in reset frequency did to the same loan.
Read →Bank by bank 8 guides
Reset timing and the way a rate change reaches your loan differ by lender. One page for each.
SBI
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →HDFC Bank
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →ICICI Bank
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →Axis Bank
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →Kotak
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →Bank of Baroda
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →IDFC FIRST Bank
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →Bajaj Housing Finance
When a rate reset changes your EMI or tenure.
Read →Trust 1 guide
Where your figures go, and what LoanRepo does and does not keep.
Glossary
The terms you meet on a loan statement and in RBI announcements, in one or two plain sentences each.
- APR (annual percentage rate)
- Under RBI's direction, a yearly rate that includes all charges levied by the lender, so it can be higher than the interest rate alone. Read more
- Basis point (bps)
- One hundredth of a percentage point. 25 bps is 0.25%, and 100 bps is 1%. Read more
- Benchmark
- The reference rate that a floating-rate loan follows, such as the repo rate (EBLR) or the lender's own MCLR. Read more
- EBLR (External Benchmark Lending Rate)
- A loan rate linked to an external benchmark such as the RBI repo rate. RBI required lenders to link new floating-rate retail loans, including home loans, to an external benchmark from 1 October 2019. When the benchmark changes, your rate changes at the next reset. Read more
- EMI (equated monthly instalment)
- The fixed amount you pay each month, made up of interest and principal. Early on, most of it is interest. Read more
- Fixed rate
- A rate that stays the same for an agreed period, so a repo-rate change does not move it during that period. Read more
- Floating rate
- A rate that moves when the benchmark moves, so the EMI or the tenure can change during the loan. Read more
- Key Facts Statement (KFS)
- A standard statement of the loan's terms and charges that RBI directs lenders to give with new retail and MSME term loans sanctioned on or after 1 October 2024. Read more
- MCLR (Marginal Cost of funds based Lending Rate)
- A benchmark set by each lender from its own cost of funds. It resets at the interval in your loan agreement, commonly every six or twelve months. Read more
- Outstanding balance
- The principal you still owe. It is the starting point for any tenure or part-payment calculation. Read more
- Part-payment
- A lump sum paid against the loan on top of the EMI. It can shorten the tenure or lower the EMI. Read more
- PLR (Prime Lending Rate)
- An older internal benchmark used by lenders. Some older loans still follow it. Read more
- Repo rate
- The rate at which the RBI lends short-term money to banks. It is the main policy rate and the benchmark behind EBLR loans. Read more
- Reset date
- The date your lender re-applies the benchmark and spread to your loan. RBI requires the rate on an external-benchmark loan to be reset at least once in three months. Read more
- Sanction letter
- The lender's letter that states your rate, benchmark, spread and reset terms. It is where to look when you are unsure. Read more
- Spread
- The margin your lender adds to the benchmark. Lenders are free to set it, and under RBI's rules the credit-risk part can change only if your credit assessment changes substantially, as agreed in the contract. A small difference compounds over a long tenure. Read more
- Stress test
- Checking what a loan would cost if the rate rose, before you take it. Read more
- Switching
- Moving your loan to a different rate or lender. Whether it pays back depends on the new spread and the cost of the switch. Read more
- Tenure
- The number of months left on the loan. If the EMI stays the same when the rate rises, the tenure gets longer. Read more
Common questions
What is a home loan reset date?
The date on which your lender re-applies the benchmark rate and spread to your loan. RBI requires the rate on an external-benchmark loan to be reset at least once in three months; on an MCLR loan the interval is in your agreement. Your sanction letter states it. Read the guide
Does an RBI rate change affect my loan straight away?
No. A decision reaches a repo-linked loan at the first reset on or after the decision, so a decision made the day before your reset reaches you almost at once, and one made the day after can wait nearly three months. Loans on other benchmarks or a fixed rate follow their own terms. Read the guide
Why did my home loan tenure increase after a rate hike?
If your EMI stays the same when the rate rises, more of each instalment goes to interest, so the loan takes more months to clear. Some lenders raise the EMI instead of the tenure. Your statement or your lender shows which applied. Read the guide
How do I know whether my loan follows the repo rate?
Look at your sanction letter or loan agreement for the benchmark, the spread and the reset interval. If it names the repo rate or an EBLR, your rate follows RBI decisions at each reset. Read the guide
When is the next RBI policy decision?
4 December 2026. The page for that date shows what a hold, a 25 bps hike or a 25 bps cut would do to a typical loan, and updates when the decision is announced. Read the guide
Can my lender change my spread?
Lenders are free to decide the spread when the loan is made. On an external-benchmark loan, RBI allows the credit-risk premium to change only when your credit assessment changes substantially, as agreed in the loan contract, and other spread components at most once every three years. Check your agreement. Read the guide
What is the Key Facts Statement?
A standard statement of the loan's terms and charges, including the APR. RBI directs lenders to give it for new retail and MSME term loans sanctioned on or after 1 October 2024, including fresh loans to existing customers. Read the guide
What is APR on a home loan?
Under RBI's direction, an annual rate that includes all charges levied by the lender, shown on the Key Facts Statement. It lets you compare offers on the real cost, not the interest rate alone. Read the guide
How can I see what rate changes did to my own loan?
Enter the start month, amount and tenure in the free diagnosis. It takes your loan through every RBI rate change since you borrowed and shows the months and interest added. Run your loan
Is it safe to enter my loan details on LoanRepo?
The calculations run in your browser and the figures you type stay there. The Is LoanRepo safe page lists what is stored, what is not, and how to check for yourself. Read the guide
Sources and how this page is kept accurate
Statements about RBI rules come from RBI's own text. Worked examples use published repo-rate decisions and the assumptions stated beside each one.
- Reserve Bank of India, notification on loans linked to external benchmarks (September 2019): applies from 1 October 2019 to new floating-rate personal and retail loans, including housing; the rate is reset at least once in three months; lenders are free to decide the spread.
- Reserve Bank of India, Key Facts Statement direction, RBI/2024-25/18, 15 April 2024: applies to new retail and MSME term loans sanctioned on or after 1 October 2024; the APR includes all charges levied by the lender.
- Reserve Bank of India, monetary policy decisions: repo rate history and dates.
Educational, not financial advice. Rules and rates change, and your loan agreement decides your own terms. Last reviewed 1 November 2026. Found an error? Write to hello@loanrepo.in.
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