Street vendors play important role in India’s economic structure: Hardeep Puri at SVANidhi Mahotsav launch

Jul 07,2022

Underscoring that the scheme got operative just after 3 months of its launch, union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said it is the first comprehensive effort for financial inclusion of the street vendors. Prior to this Scheme, street vendors were dependent on the informal credit channels paying high rates of interest, he added.

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday launched SVANidhi Mahotsav – a cultural festival for celebrating the success of PM SVANidhi Scheme and SVANidhi Mahotsav website. Puri said the it is a festival for celebrating and recognising beneficiary street vendor’s growth story and their contribution towards Indian economy.

The Mahotsav will be organised from July 9 to July 31 in 75 cities across 33 states/UTs of the country.

Addressing the media after the launch, the union minister expressed how important a role street vendors have played, calling them “an essential part of India’s economic growth story”. “The festival aims to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence with these nano-entrepreneurs, honoring their journey under PM SVANidhi scheme for demonstrating credit discipline, digital behavior and displaying their astute business acumen,” he added.

The PM SVANidhi scheme was launched on June 1, 2020 to facilitate working capital loans to the street vendors to help them restart their businesses which were adversely impacted due to the lockdowns imposed during Covid-19 pandemic.

Underscoring that the scheme got operative just after 3 months of its launch, Puri said it is the first comprehensive effort for financial inclusion of the street vendors. Prior to this Scheme, street vendors were dependent on the informal credit channels paying high rates of interest, he added.

“This gives a very strong message that these vendors are converted from the status of marginalized to the participants of the macro level economy of our country,” the union minister added.

53.7 lakh eligible applications have been received so far under the scheme, out of these, 36.6 lakh loans have been sanctioned and 33.2 lakh loans have been disbursed. The amount disbursed so far is Rs 3,592 Cr and about 12 lakh street vendors have repaid their first loan.

SVANidhi Se Samriddhi
The scheme facilitates collateral free working capital loan upto Rs 10,000, of 1 year tenure, with enhanced loan of Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 in the second and third term respectively, on repayment of earlier loans, to enable business expansion.

It incentivises the repayment by way of 7 per cent interest subsidy

Through SVANidhi Se Samriddhi, PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their family members are provided single window access to 8 Central Government welfare schemes. Till date more than 25 lakh sanctions have been made under these schemes facilitating socio-economic upliftment of more than 11 Lakh beneficiaries and family members.