The Union Cabinet today approved the restructuring of Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme. The Cabinet also gave approval for the extension of the lending period beyond 31st December 2024. The lending period has now been extended until 31st March, 2030. The total outlay for the scheme is seven thousand 332 crore rupees.
The key features of the restructured scheme include enhanced loan amounts across the first and second tranches, provision of UPI-linked RuPay Credit Card for beneficiaries who have repaid the second loan and digital cashback incentives for retail and wholesale transactions. The first tranche loan has been increased up to 15 thousand rupees from 10 thousand rupees, and the second tranche loans have increased up to 25 thousand rupees from 20 thousand rupees, while the third tranche remains unchanged at 50 thousand rupees.
The restructured scheme aims to benefit one crore 15 lakh beneficiaries, including 50 lakh new beneficiaries. The scheme’s coverage is being expanded beyond statutory towns to census towns and peri-urban areas in a graded manner. The introduction of UPI-linked RUPAY Credit Card would provide immediate access to credit to the street vendors in order to meet any emergent business and personal requirements. In order to give a boost to digital adoption, the street vendors can avail cashback incentives up to one thousand 600 rupees on making retail and wholesale transactions.
The Government had initially launched the PM SVANidhi Scheme on 1st June 2020 to support street vendors who faced unprecedented hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July this year, over 96 lakh loans amounting to 13 thousand 797 crore rupees have been disbursed to more than 68 lakh street vendors.
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