What is MCLR in home loans?

MCLR stands for Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate. It is the minimum interest rate below which a bank cannot lend (with a few exceptions). Introduced by RBI in April 2016, MCLR replaced the earlier Base Rate system to make lending rates more responsive to policy rate changes.

How MCLR is Calculated

MCLR is computed based on four components:

  • Marginal Cost of Funds: Weighted average cost of deposits and borrowings.
  • Negative Carry on CRR: Cost of maintaining cash reserve ratio.
  • Operating Costs: Administrative and operational expenses of the bank.
  • Tenor Premium: Extra charge for longer lending periods.

MCLR Tenors

  • Banks publish MCLRs for different tenors: overnight, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, 1-year.
  • Most home loans are linked to the 1-year MCLR.
  • The home loan rate = MCLR + Spread (markup decided by the bank).

MCLR vs. RLLR (Repo Linked Lending Rate)

  • MCLR: Changes quarterly or annually — slower transmission of RBI rate cuts.
  • RLLR: Changes immediately with repo rate — faster and more transparent.

Current Relevance

  • RBI mandated that all new floating rate home loans post-October 2019 be linked to external benchmarks (RLLR).
  • Existing MCLR-linked loans continue until reset or switch to RLLR.

While MCLR-linked loans are being phased out for new borrowers, millions of existing home loans still run on MCLR. Understanding how MCLR resets affect your rate helps in deciding whether switching to RLLR-based pricing makes financial sense.

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