New Delhi, Dec. 19 -- A 0.25% rate cut looks tiny on paper. But on a Rs.50 lakh home loan, it can unlock thousands of rupees a year-and lakhs in lifetime interest-depending entirely on what you do with it. The real "windfall" is not the lower EMI itself, but how intelligently you choose between reducing EMI or shrinking tenure.

For a Rs.50 lakh home loan over 20 years, even a 0.25% reduction in interest can lower annual repayments by roughly Rs.5,500- Rs.14,000, depending on the starting rate and loan structure. Aggregated over the full tenure, that modest basis-point cut translates into meaningful long-term savings and improved affordability.

For many Indian households, where EMIs already consume a large share of income, this differenc...