The Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), has achieved a remarkable milestone by extending assistance to more than 5 million street vendors nationwide.
According to the central government, close to 5 million street vendors have availed loans amounting to INR 8600 crore (USD 1.03 billion) under a micro-credit scheme launched in 2020 to support them in coping with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. To put this figure in perspective, this translates to more than USD 1 billion.
The PM SVANidhi scheme aims to provide collateral-free working capital loans of up to INR 50000 (USD 600.65). It incentivizes regular repayments with a 7% interest subsidy and rewards digital transactions with cashbacks of up to INR 1200 (USD 14.42) annually.
Starting from July 1st, 2023, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) initiated a campaign to revise the scheme’s targets. Several high-level review meetings and financial institution assessments, led by the Finance Minister, were conducted. The outcome: over 5 million street vendors were granted a total of 6.575 million loans amounting to more than INR 8600 crore (USD 1.03 billion).
Over the past three months, various states have successfully incorporated over 1.2 million new vendors into the system. Among the top-performing states are Madhya Pradesh, Assam, and Gujarat, while cities like Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Indore, and Mumbai have been the most active in implementing the scheme.
Besides facilitating microcredits, the PM SVANidhi scheme empowers street vendors through digital payments. Participating Lending Institutions or Banks and Digital Payment Aggregators (DPAs) have offered digital onboarding and training to promote digital transactions. These initiatives have resulted in nearly 1.132 billion digital transactions worth INR 133003 crore (USD 15.97 billion), with recipients benefiting from INR 58.2 crore (USD 6.99 million) in cashbacks.
On January 4th, 2021, a special program called “SVANidhi se Samriddhi” was introduced, aiming to connect participants’ families with eight government socioeconomic welfare schemes to promote holistic development.
Union Urban Development Minister, Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, remarked, “The PM SVANidhi Scheme has surpassed our expectations by reaching over 5 million beneficiaries in just over three years. This achievement underscores our commitment to empowering street vendors and integrating them into formal financial systems.”
