New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) More than 75.5 lakh street vendors have availed over 112 lakh loans under the PM SVANidhi scheme so far, according to an official fact-sheet.

Loans amounting to more than Rs 17,800 crore have been disbursed to street vendors across the country. Beneficiaries have also received nearly Rs 800 crore through interest subsidies and digital cashback incentives.

Nearly 46 per cent of beneficiaries are women and around 70 per cent belong to marginalised communities. The scheme strengthened micro-enterprises, local supply chains and integration of vendors with Urban Local Bodies, the fact-sheet informed.

PM SVANidhi was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide affordable working capital loans to street vendors whose businesses had been severely affected.

As the first dedicated micro-credit scheme for street vendors, who constituted a significant part of the informal workforce and often had limited access to formal credit, it aimed to support the growth of their businesses while promoting financial inclusion.

Building on the strong achievements and measurable impact, the government has approved restructuring and extension of PM SVANidhi. The lending period has been extended until March 2030.

Any person engaged in the vending of articles, goods, wares, food items, or merchandise of daily use or offering services to the public in a street, footpath, pavement, etc., from a temporary built-up structure or by moving from place to place. The goods supplied by them include vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat street food, etc., and the services include barber shops, cobblers, laundry services, etc.

Street vendors receive collateral-free working capital loans of Rs 15,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 through progressive loan tranches.

The scheme also provides interest subsidy, credit guarantee support and UPI-linked RuPay Credit Cards up to Rs 30,000 for eligible vendors.

PM SVANidhi encourages timely and early repayment by providing an interest subsidy of 7 per cent per annum. In addition, vendors who repay their loans on time become eligible for higher loan tranches in subsequent cycles.

The scheme encourages digital transactions through cashback incentives up to Rs 1,600 and financial literacy support. More than 55 lakh vendors completed over 841 crore digital transactions worth nearly Rs 8.96 lakh crore.

The scheme provides training in financial literacy, digital literacy and food safety practices through collaboration with FSSAI. Around 6 lakh street food vendors have been trained on food safety and hygiene standards.

–IANS

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