PM SVANidhi Pushes Street Vendors Into India’s Formal Credit and Digital Economy

India’s street-vendor economy has received a major boost through the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi, better known as PM SVANidhi. Launched in June 2020 during the COVID-19 period, the scheme was designed to give affordable working capital support to street vendors whose livelihoods were hit during the pandemic. It has since grown into a major financial-inclusion programme for India’s informal urban workforce.

PM SVANidhi is a Central Sector Scheme jointly implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Department of Financial Services. The scheme provides collateral-free working capital loans to street vendors, helping them restart, stabilise and expand their small businesses. The government has now approved restructuring and extension of the scheme, with the lending period extended up to March 2030.

The scheme supports vendors through progressive loan tranches of ₹15,000, ₹25,000 and ₹50,000. Vendors who repay on time become eligible for higher loan amounts in the next cycle. The programme also provides 7% annual interest subsidy, credit guarantee support, and UPI-linked RuPay Credit Cards of up to ₹30,000 for eligible beneficiaries.

The scale of the programme shows its impact. More than 75.5 lakh street vendors have already benefited from PM SVANidhi, receiving over 112 lakh loans. Total loan disbursement has crossed ₹17,800 crore, while beneficiaries have also received nearly ₹800 crore through interest subsidies and digital cashback incentives.

PM SVANidhi has also helped bring street vendors into the digital payments ecosystem. More than 55 lakh vendors have completed over 841 crore digital transactions worth nearly ₹8.96 lakh crore. The scheme encourages digital payments through cashback incentives of up to ₹1,600, while also promoting financial literacy and digital awareness among vendors who were earlier dependent mainly on cash-based transactions.

The programme’s social impact is equally important. Nearly 46% of beneficiaries are women, while around 70% belong to marginalised communities. This makes PM SVANidhi a livelihood-support scheme as well as a social-inclusion platform. It strengthens micro-enterprises, improves urban supply chains and gives street vendors a stronger connection with Urban Local Bodies.

The scheme also works through the SVANidhi se Samriddhi initiative, which profiles beneficiary families and links them with selected Central Government welfare schemes. More than 50 lakh families have been profiled so far, and over 1.52 crore welfare benefits have been sanctioned under this initiative.

Training and capacity building form another important part of the programme. The scheme provides support in financial literacy, digital literacy and food safety practices. Through collaboration with FSSAI, around 6 lakh street food vendors have received training in food safety and hygiene standards, helping them improve service quality and public trust.

Independent studies conducted in 2023 and 2025 found that PM SVANidhi improved business sustainability, raised incomes and deepened access to formal finance. Nearly 95% of beneficiaries accessed formal institutional credit for the first time through the scheme. Around 30% also accessed additional credit beyond PM SVANidhi loans, while beneficiary incomes recorded an average annual rise of nearly 20%.

PM SVANidhi has therefore moved beyond emergency relief. It has become a structured bridge between street vendors, banks, digital payments, welfare schemes and urban governance. By combining credit access, repayment discipline, digital transactions, welfare linkage and capacity building, the scheme is helping India’s street vendors move from informal survival to formal economic participation.

Source: PIB