India, June 1 -- In a move that echoes a controversial chapter in India's edtech history, PhysicsWallah (PW) is betting big on student financing.

During the sector's boom years, education loans emerged as a powerful growth lever for startups. Easy credit helped remove upfront affordability barriers, drive enrolments and support the sale of higher-ticket courses.

The strategy worked, at least for a while. But the model eventually began to unravel. The most prominent casualty was BYJU'S. Its aggressive reliance on third-party lenders to finance expensive courses triggered regulatory scrutiny, customer backlash and allegations of mis-selling. Financing stopped looking like a conversion tool and started looking like a structural risk.

Now,...