PM SVANidhi loans over ₹17,800 crore disbursed, driving formal banking access for street vendors

NEW DELHI: Loans worth over ₹17,800 crore have been disbursed to street vendors across the country under the PM SVANidhi scheme so far, Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal said on Sunday.

Addressing PM SVANidhi beneficiaries from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, the minister said that since its launch in 2020, over 7.55 million street vendors have benefited from the scheme, including 3.88 million women vendors.

At an event in Tripura, Lal said more than 259,000 loans have been distributed in northeastern states, through which financial assistance amounting to over ₹430 crore has been extended to street vendors.

“Lakhs of people have connected with the banking system for the first time through PM SVANidhi and have become part of the formal economy, thereby paving the way for financial inclusion and self-reliance,” he said.

According to government data, over the past six years more than 5.5 million beneficiaries have been onboarded digitally under the scheme, carrying out over 8.41 billion digital transactions worth nearly ₹8.96 trillion. They have also received nearly ₹800 crore in digital cashback incentives and interest subsidies.

Under the scheme, collateral-free loans of ₹15,000, ₹25,000 and ₹50,000 are provided in three progressive tranches, with interest subsidy and credit guarantee support. Vendors who successfully repay the second tranche are eligible for UPI-linked RuPay Credit Cards with limits of up to ₹30,000, among other benefits.

In August last year, the Union cabinet restructured and extended the lending period of the PM SVANidhi scheme from 31 March 2024 to 31 March 2030. The total outlay for the scheme is ₹7,332 crore. The restructured scheme targets 11.5 million beneficiaries, including 5 million new vendors.

According to impact assessments conducted in 2023 and 2025, the scheme has strengthened business sustainability and improved earnings for vendors, with nearly 95% of beneficiaries accessing formal institutional credit for the first time under PM SVANidhi.

However, many beneficiaries remain vulnerable to economic disruption and rising living costs. Mint earlier reported that policy planners expect some repayment stress in small-ticket loans under PM SVANidhi and the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana in the coming quarters, following the fallout of the West Asia war.