PM SVANidhi Scheme Restructuring: First-Year Progress Report
The Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme has completed one year of its restructured phase since the Union Cabinet approval on 27 August 2025. The scheme, originally launched on 1 June 2020 to provide collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors, has been extended with lending operations continuing until 31 March 2030. The restructured scheme aims to benefit 1.15 crore street vendors, including 50 lakh new beneficiaries, with enhanced focus on formal credit access, digital financial inclusion, social security, capacity building, and entrepreneurship development.
During the first year post-restructuring, the scheme disbursed 21.86 lakh loans to 10.56 lakh new beneficiaries, totaling ₹6,294 crore in credit support. To deepen formal credit access, the scheme introduced a UPI-linked RuPay Credit Card with a credit limit of up to ₹30,000 for eligible vendors, with 27,077 credit cards approved so far. The implementation of an end-to-end Digital Lending Platform has streamlined loan processing from application through verification, approval, and disbursement. A Vendor Migration Module enables seamless transfer of Letter of Recommendations when vendors move between Urban Local Bodies and Census Towns, ensuring continuity of benefits.
The scheme has expanded its geographical reach through a City Region Approach that now includes Census Towns, bringing more street vendors into the formal credit ecosystem. Beyond credit delivery, PM SVANidhi has evolved toward enterprise development and innovation through initiatives like the ongoing PM SVANidhi Startup Challenge, which encourages solutions in market access, digital payments, financial services, logistics, and vending infrastructure.
Infrastructure development includes plans for 50 Street Food Hubs across the country, with cities eligible for financial assistance of up to ₹4 crore per hub, including an additional ₹25 lakh for notification of vending zones. Last-mile outreach is strengthened through Lok Kalyan Melas that bring together street vendors, banks, and Urban Local Bodies to facilitate access to credit, welfare schemes, and capacity-building programs, with the next round scheduled from 1 September to 30 September 2026.
Cumulatively since inception, PM SVANidhi has enabled 78.68 lakh street vendors to access more than 1.18 crore loans amounting to ₹19,171 crore. The scheme has released ₹421 crore as interest subsidy to incentivize timely loan repayment. Digital adoption metrics show 57.09 lakh vendors have undertaken over 908 crore digital transactions, with ₹418.78 crore released in cashback incentives covering both retail and wholesale transactions. Under the SVANidhi se Samridhhi component, socio-economic profiling of more than 51.15 lakh beneficiary families has been completed, with over 1.59 crore scheme sanctions under eight central government welfare schemes provided to eligible family members. Additionally, more than 6 lakh street food vendors have received FSSAI training on food safety and hygiene.
The scheme has transformed from a credit intervention into a comprehensive livelihood and entrepreneurship initiative integrating formal credit, digital inclusion, social security, capacity building, innovation, and improved vending infrastructure, contributing to the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047.