Loans worth Rs 9,790 crore disbursed to street vendors under PM SVANidhi scheme: Govt

New Delhi: A total of Rs 9,790 crore worth of loans have been disbursed so far to beneficiaries of the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, the government said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

The scheme was launched during the COVID-19 outbreak as a micro-credit scheme for urban street vendors that aims to provide collateral-free working capital loans up to Rs 50,000.

"This scheme is available pan-India in all urban local bodies," Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said while replying to a supplementary question.

All street vendors in urban areas are eligible for benefits under the PM SVANidhi Scheme, irrespective of the date on which they started vending.

Loans disbursed to PM SVANidhi beneficiaries stood at Rs 2,039 crore in the 2020-21 fiscal, Rs 1,248 crore in 2021-22, Rs 1,866 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 4,637 crore up to December 5 of the current 2023-24 fiscal, taking the total to Rs 9,790 crore, the minister informed.

As of December 5, 2023, 56,58,744 street vendor beneficiaries have been disbursed loans under this scheme.

The minister informed that the number of beneficiaries has reached 56.89 lakh as of now and is increasing every day.

As per scheme guidelines, eligible vendors are identified based on various criteria.

Under the PM SVANidhi Scheme, a working capital loan of up to Rs 10,000 was introduced initially.

Considering the requirement for an enhanced loan, a second loan amount of up to Rs 20,000 with effect from April 09, 2021, and a third loan of up to Rs 50,000 with effect from June 1, 2022, were introduced, the minister said.