India’s largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI) might continue offering its teaser home loan scheme beyond September 30. The decision is still subject to assessment by its ALM (asset-liability management) committee meeting later in the month.

SBI Managing Director S K Bhattacharyya has said that the scheme has been profitable and there is no reason to scrap it. He was speaking on the sidelines of a banking event organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Monday.

“It is a good scheme. We have overtaken all others in home loans. Till now, we have not taken any decision on extending the scheme. The final decision will be taken at the ALM meeting in September,” he said.

Originally the scheme was to expire on April 30, but was extended till June, and then again till September due to high demand. The home loans in the carry attract an eight per cent interest rate for first year, nine per cent in second and third years.

In the forth year, the home loans up to Rs 50 lakh are charged 9.25 per cent while higher loans are charged 9.75 per cent. The bank has set the base rate at 7.5% a year.

The scheme was launched in August 2009 and ash been very popular. SBI competes with HDFC in the home loan segment which has raised its retail prime lending rate by 50 basis points last week. The HDFC floating rates will now be raised by 50 bps which could make SBI loans more attractive.