Context: The Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs inaugurated India’s first ‘Zero Waste Street Food Festival,’ highlighting the pivotal role of the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme in empowering street vendors.

PM SVANidhi Empowers 57.83 Lakh Street Vendors Across India

• The Minister informed that the PM SVANidhi scheme has benefitted 57.83 lakh street vendors. 
  • 80.77 lakh loans have been sanctioned and 76.22 lakh loans worth Rs. 10,058 crores have been disbursed under the scheme. 
• Further he noted that the percentage of women street vendors, who have received loans under the scheme is about 45 % (25.78 lakh) of all loans disbursed. 
• • Around 72% of the beneficiaries of PM SVANidhi are from marginalized sections.

PM SVANidhi (Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atma Nirbhar Nidhi) Scheme

• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• Objective: To facilitate a collateral-free working capital loan to street vendors to restart their businesses, which were adversely impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Implementing Agency: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

• The duration of the scheme has been extended till December 2024, with a focus on enhanced collateral-free affordable loan corpus and increased adoption of digital transactions.Scheme Benefits: Vendors can avail of a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly installments over the tenure of one year.
• On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to beneficiaries’ bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer on a quarterly basis.
• The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash-back incentives up to an amount of Rs. 100 per month.
• The vendors can avail the facility of escalation of the credit limit on timely/ early repayment of loans. 

News Source: PIB