PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors: Benefits, loan amount, tenure

PM SVANidhi scheme was launched on June 1, 2020, by the ministry of housing and urban affairs to help street vendors, who were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, resume their livelihood activities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday virtually distribute loans to nearly 300,000 street vendors under the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi Yojana or PM SVANidhi Scheme. PM Modi will also interact with the beneficiaries. Uttar Pradesh has so far received 557,000 applications from vendors, the highest across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the 4th India Energy Forum, in New Delhi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.(PTI)

“The scheme intends to facilitate collateral-free working capital loans of up to INR10,000/- of one-year tenure, to approximately 50 lakh street vendors, to help resume their businesses in the urban areas, including surrounding peri-urban/rural area,” the ministry has said.

Here’s everything you need to know about the scheme:

1. PM SVANidhi or Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi scheme was launched on June 1, 2020, by the ministry of housing and urban affairs to help street vendors, who were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, resume their livelihood activities.

2. The scheme aims to provide working capital loans up to ₹10,000 at a subsidized rate of interest. The interest subsidy on timely or early repayment of the loan is at 7 per cent and street vendors will be allowed to repay the loan in monthly instalments in one year.

3. If someone can pay earlier than the tenure, an interest subsidy of 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries every quarter. And, there will be no penalty on early repayment of the loan.

4. Also, there is a monthly cash-back incentive on digital payments. The benefits can be availed by street vendors or hawkers in urban, pre-urban and rural areas.

5. Scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks, small finance banks, cooperative banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), micro-finance institutions and Self-Help Group (SHG) Banks will be providing loans under the scheme.

6. Applying for the loan can be done in many ways. The documents required for KYC are Aadhaar card, voter’s identity card, driving licence, MNREGA card and PAN card. Application for the loan can be filled on the website www.pmsvanidhi.mohua.gov.in or by visiting a nearby banking correspondent (BC) or the agent of microfinance institution (MFI). Documents can also be uploaded on the PM SVANidhi mobile application.

7. The PM SVANidhi scheme is available for beneficiaries belonging to only those states and Union territories which have notified rules and scheme under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. However, beneficiaries from Meghalaya, which has its own state street vendors act, can also avail of the scheme’s benefits.