Loan provided to 45 lakh beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi: Puri

Under PM SVANidhi, more than 40.07 lakh loans worth Rs 4,606.36 crore to 45.32 lakh beneficiaries disbursed

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that PM SVANidhi disbursed more than 40.07 lakh loans worth Rs. 4,606.36 crore to 45.32 lakh beneficiaries in the last two years.

“PM SVANidhi has also provided a platform for financial inclusion by facilitating the street vendors to carry out digital transactions. I am glad to say that so far, street vendors have recorded 37.70 crore digital transactions to the tune of more than Rs. 45,000 crore. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has released Rs. 23.02 crore as cashback to the beneficiaries to promote the use of digital transactions,” the Minister said.

The PM Street Vendor's Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (SVANidhi) Scheme was launched in June 2020 by the NDA Government as a Micro-Credit facility which aims to empower street vendors to recover losses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through PM SVANidhi, affordable collateral-free loans are given to street vendors.

The Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the 12th edition of the National Street Food Festival, which is being organized by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI).

Talking about the tie-up with food delivery platforms (Zomato, Swiggy etc.), the Minister highlighted that PM SVANidhi has enabled the onboarding of 9,326 street vendors on food delivery platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato. As of 9 January 2023, total sales worth Rs. 21.93 crore have occurred on these platforms. Through such partnerships, a wider market has been made accessible to both vendors and consumers, he said.