PM-SVANidhi Scheme Expansion and Impact Assessment

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has implemented the restructured PM SVANidhi Scheme with expanded coverage beyond statutory urban areas to include census towns and peri-urban areas in a phased manner. The scheme, which initially covered statutory urban areas, now extends eligibility to street vendors from surrounding peri-urban areas who vend within Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) geographical limits.

Impact Assessment Findings

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad conducted impact assessment studies in 2023 and 2025. The 2023 study covered 100 ULBs across the country with over 5,000 beneficiaries, finding that PM SVANidhi was the first bank loan for 95% of beneficiaries, with loans utilized for business expansion. The 2025 study covered 99 ULBs with over 5,000 beneficiaries (60% from the 2023 sample), revealing that average annualized business income among borrowers grew by approximately 20% between 2023 and 2025.

Approximately 30% of borrowers across all cycles reported holding loans other than PM SVANidhi loans, indicating the scheme's role in building credit histories for vendors previously lacking formal credit access. Digital payments adoption among street vendors rose significantly between 2023 and 2025. The scheme's impact extended beyond business recovery to improving living conditions, strengthening food security, enhancing healthcare access, and supporting children's education by easing credit constraints and stabilizing household cash flows.

Operational Details and Coverage

Street vendor identification is conducted by States/UTs through surveys under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, with ULBs and State/UT Governments responsible for conducting surveys and issuing Certificates of Vending. All street vendors including seasonal, mobile, women, and tourism-dependent vendors are covered provided they meet eligibility criteria.

City-specific Loan Data

Annexure-I provides detailed loan data for Katni, Panna, and Khajuraho during FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26. In Katni, 1,999 Letters of Recommendation were issued with 2,684 first tranche, 2,804 second tranche, and 1,233 third tranche loans sanctioned, while 2,765 first tranche, 2,846 second tranche, and 1,221 third tranche loans were disbursed. Panna had 247 LoRs issued with 351/462/385 loans sanctioned across tranches and 349/471/385 disbursed. Khajuraho showed 280 LoRs issued with 590/405/238 loans sanctioned and 585/402/236 disbursed.

New Financial Product and Campaigns

A UPI-linked RuPay Credit Card was introduced on January 23, 2026, for beneficiaries who repaid their second loan tranche. As of July 12, 2026, Katni received 14 cards, Panna 2 cards, and Khajuraho 1 card. The average loan sanction time is 23 days according to the PM SVANidhi Portal.

The Ministry has undertaken multiple initiatives including periodic awareness campaigns through radio jingles, television, and newspaper advertisements, with States/UTs provided IEC materials in local languages. After the restructured scheme approval on August 27, 2025, Lok Kalyan Melas were organized from September 17 to October 15, 2025, followed by a special campaign from November 3 to December 2, 2025 to clear pendency. ULBs collaborate with Digital Payment Aggregators to conduct digital literacy camps, offering cashback incentives to promote cashless payments. A nationwide Special Campaign ran from June 1-30, 2026, featuring SVANidhi Mahotsav and Lok Kalyan Melas to promote new scheme features and support vendor mobilization.

Additional Initiatives

The Ministry has issued guidelines for developing Street Food Hubs under PM SVANidhi to create well-planned, safe vending spaces in high footfall areas. This information was provided by Minister of State Shri Tokhan Sahu in a Lok Sabha written reply.