NEWS: The Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) schemeà completed six years of public implementation since its initial launch in June 2020.

About

• PM SVANidhi à central sector micro-credit flagship scheme launched during the COVID-19 pandemic--> to assist urban street vendors and hawkers.
• Provides formal, collateral-free working capital loans to support business recovery, grassroots digital onboarding, and comprehensive social security protection.
• Managed as a joint administrative responsibility of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the Department of Financial Services (DFS)

Key Features of PM SVANidhi:

• Provides credit in three separate tranches of ₹15,000, ₹25,000, and ₹50,000.
• Successive higher limits are unlocked automatically upon the timely repayment of previous loans.
• Incentivizes timely or early loan repaymentsà by offering an interest subsidy of 7 percent per annum, which is credited directly to the vendor’s account.
• Vendors who successfully repay their second tranche become eligible for special UPI-linked RuPay Credit Cards with an operating limit of up to ₹30,000.
• SVANidhi se Samriddhi (SSS)à Conducts detailed socio-economic profiling of vendors and their families
• Collaborates directly with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to provide specialized capacity building in local financial literacy

ACHIEVEMENTS

• 5 lakh+ vendors benefited
• 12 crore+ loans sanctioned
• 55 lakh+ vendors digitally onboarded
• 841 crore+ digital transactions worth ₹8.96 lakh crore

SIGNIFICANCE

• Reduced dependence on moneylenders
• ~95% beneficiaries accessed formal credit for the first time
• Household incomes increased by ~20%
• Women beneficiaries → 46% (34.81 lakh)
• 70% beneficiaries from marginalized communities
• Improved creditworthiness and access to additional loans