PM SVANidhi Scheme

PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)
Type	Central Sector Scheme
Country	India
Ministry	Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Launched	June 1, 2020 (2020-06-01)
Status	Active
Funding	₹7,332 crore
Website	pmsvanidhi.mohua.gov.in

PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) is a Central Sector Scheme launched by the Government of India on 1 June 2020 to provide collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first micro-credit programme designed specifically for street vendors in India, and aims to bring them into the formal credit system while promoting digital transactions. The scheme is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the Department of Financial Services (DFS). On 27 August 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a restructuring of the scheme and extended its lending period until 31 March 2030, with a total outlay of ₹7,332 crore.

Background

Street vendors form a significant part of India's urban informal economy, providing convenient access to goods and services close to people's doorsteps. They nevertheless face a range of constraints, including lack of formal recognition, limited access to formal credit, low levels of education and skills, and limited access to emerging market opportunities. Being unorganised and self-employed, street vendors and their families often lack linkages to social security and welfare schemes, which makes them vulnerable in difficult times.

The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 provides for the identification and regulation of street vendors by urban local bodies, but does not itself extend credit. The economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns severely affected street vendors, who faced loss of income and working capital. PM SVANidhi was formulated to assist street vendors in overcoming these financial constraints and restarting their businesses.

Objectives

The scheme has the following objectives:

• To provide collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors.
• To promote digital transactions and financial inclusion among street vendors.
• To strengthen social protection and link beneficiaries' families to welfare schemes.
• To improve the livelihoods and economic stability of street vendors.

Key features

Loan tranches

Under the scheme, street vendors are provided collateral-free working capital loans in three progressive tranches. Following the 2025 restructuring, the tranche amounts were revised upwards:

• First tranche: Up to ₹15,000 (increased from ₹10,000), repayable in 12 monthly instalments.
• Second tranche: Up to ₹25,000 (increased from ₹20,000), repayable in 18 monthly instalments.
• Third tranche: Up to ₹50,000, repayable in 36 monthly instalments.

Repayment of one tranche makes a vendor eligible for the next higher tranche. As per the PM SVANidhi portal, the average time taken to sanction a loan is 23 days.

Interest subsidy

Beneficiaries are eligible for an interest subsidy of 7 per cent per annum on timely or early repayment of the loan. The subsidy is credited directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through the PM SVANidhi portal.

Digital incentives

To promote digital transactions, the scheme provides cashback incentives:

• A cashback of ₹1 per digital transaction, up to a maximum of ₹100 per month, for up to 12 months for each loan tranche.
• Under the restructured scheme, a cashback of up to ₹100 per quarter for four quarters for wholesale digital purchases of at least ₹2,000 (maximum ₹400).

The total cashback incentive available to a beneficiary under the restructured scheme is up to ₹1,600.

UPI-linked RuPay Credit Card

Under the restructured scheme, vendors who have successfully repaid the second loan tranche are eligible for a UPI-linked RuPay credit card with a limit of up to ₹30,000. The card was launched on 23 January 2026.

SVANidhi se Samriddhi

The 'SVANidhi se Samriddhi' component, launched on 4 January 2021, undertakes socio-economic profiling of beneficiaries and their families to link them with eight selected Central Government welfare schemes, creating a holistic social security net. The eight schemes include the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan. As of 12 July 2026, socio-economic profiling was completed for 50.63 lakh beneficiaries and 1.06 crore family members, with a total of 1.56 crore scheme sanctions extended to them.

Capacity building

The scheme includes capacity-building initiatives focusing on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, digital skills, and marketing. Standard hygiene and food safety training is conducted for street food vendors in partnership with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Eligibility and coverage

To be eligible for the scheme, a beneficiary must be a street vendor engaged in vending articles, goods, wares, food items, or merchandise of everyday use, or offering services to the public in a street, lane, sidewalk, footpath, pavement, public park, or other public place. The beneficiary must be at least 18 years of age. The identification of street vendors is carried out by States and Union Territories through surveys conducted under the provisions of the Street Vendors Act, 2014.

The scheme is implemented across all States and Union Territories, covering eligible street vendors in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Under the restructured scheme, coverage is being expanded in a phased manner beyond statutory urban areas to include census towns, peri-urban areas, and other areas.

Implementation

The scheme is implemented through an end-to-end digital platform, the PM SVANidhi portal, developed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Applications are submitted through the portal or mobile app, or through Common Service Centres (CSCs) and Urban Local Bodies. The DFS facilitates access to loans and credit cards through banks and financial institutions, while MoHUA is responsible for administration and approvals.

Progress and impact

As of 12 July 2026, 76.95 lakh street vendors had availed over 1.15 crore loans amounting to ₹18,475.06 crore under the scheme. Of these, 29.71 lakh vendors had availed the second tranche and 8.49 lakh vendors had availed the third tranche. More than 55 lakh beneficiaries had been onboarded onto digital platforms, conducting over 841 crore digital transactions worth nearly ₹8.96 lakh crore. Beneficiaries had received nearly ₹800 crore through digital cashback incentives and interest subsidies.

Impact assessment studies conducted by the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, in 2023 and 2025 found that:

• PM SVANidhi was the first loan from a bank for 95 per cent of beneficiaries.
• The average annualised business income among borrowers grew by around 20 per cent between 2023 and 2025.
• Around 30 per cent of borrowers across all cycles reported holding loans other than PM SVANidhi loans, indicating the scheme's role in building credit histories.
• Adoption of digital payments among street vendors rose significantly between 2023 and 2025.
• The scheme enabled vendor families to improve living conditions, strengthen food security, enhance access to healthcare, and support children's education.

The scheme has received national recognition, winning the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration (2023) for Innovation (Central Level) and the Silver Award for Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering for Digital Transformation (2022).

Criticism and challenges

A 2026 report noted that small-ticket loans disbursed under PM SVANidhi and the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana may face repayment stress due to economic factors such as rising costs and reduced foot traffic, particularly amid the war in West Asia. Policy planners expected some stress in the PM SVANidhi portfolio as it directly caters to street vendors, who form an important part of the informal urban economy, and reduced footfall in offices was likely to impact their earnings and repayment capacity. A study on street vendors in Bihar highlighted gaps in identification and coverage, with uneven distribution across towns and barriers related to awareness, outreach, and administrative processes.

See also

• Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014
• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
• Department of Financial Services
• Small Industries Development Bank of India