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The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs told the Rajya Sabha that since PM SVANidhi's launch on 1 June 2020 and up to 12 July 2026, 76.95 lakh street vendors have availed more than 1.15 crore collateral-free loans amounting to Rs 18,475 crore.
As on 12 July 2026, 29.71 lakh vendors had taken the second loan tranche and 8.49 lakh the third, reflecting the scheme's graduated lending design.
Impact studies by the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad found that PM SVANidhi was the first bank loan for 95% of beneficiaries in the 2023 study, and that average annualised business income among borrowers grew by around 20% between 2023 and 2025.
Around 30% of borrowers reported holding loans other than PM SVANidhi, indicating the scheme is building credit histories for vendors previously outside formal credit.
Over 875 crore digital transactions have been carried out and Rs 412 crore released as cashback incentive up to May 2026; under SVANidhi se Samriddhi, launched 4 January 2021, socio-economic profiling is complete for 50.63 lakh beneficiaries with 1.56 crore scheme sanctions extended.
PM SVANidhi's design rests on repayment unlocking the next, larger tranche: a vendor who repays the first loan qualifies for a second and then a third. That structure does two things at once. It manages the lender's risk without collateral, since each tranche is underwritten by demonstrated repayment rather than by security. And it creates a formal repayment record where none existed — which is why the ISB findings matter more than the disbursement total. If PM SVANidhi was the first bank loan for 95% of beneficiaries in 2023, and around 30% of borrowers now hold loans other than PM SVANidhi, the scheme has done something a subsidy could not: it has moved a population from outside the formal credit system to inside it, where they can borrow from ordinary lenders on their own record. The digital cashback works the same way. Paying a vendor up to Rs 1,200 a year to accept digital payments is not really about the Rs 1,200; it generates a verifiable transaction trail that becomes the vendor's income proof for future underwriting. The tranche numbers show how steep the funnel is, though: of 76.95 lakh vendors, 29.71 lakh reached the second tranche and 8.49 lakh the third.
Simple Analogy: The loan is not the product; the repayment record is. PM SVANidhi lends small so that a bank can later lend large.
Facilitate collateral-free working capital term loans to urban street vendors
Key: Launched 1 June 2020 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during the COVID-19 recovery; graduated loan tranches on repayment, with digital transaction cashback of up to Rs 1,200 a year per tranche
Build a social safety net for beneficiaries and their family members
Key: Launched 4 January 2021; links beneficiaries to eight Central welfare schemes — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, PM Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, registration under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana, the National Food Security Act portability benefit under One Nation One Ration Card, Pradhan Mantri Janani Suraksha Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
Reduce urban poverty through skill training, self-employment support and shelter for the urban homeless
Key: The umbrella urban livelihoods mission within which street vendor support sits, and the delivery machinery through which ULBs reach vendors
Protect the livelihood rights of street vendors and regulate street vending
Key: Requires each local authority to constitute a Town Vending Committee, which surveys all vendors in its jurisdiction every five years and issues certificates of vending; no vendor may be evicted until such a survey has been conducted and certificates issued
Recognises street vending as a livelihood right, mandates Town Vending Committees, requires a survey of all vendors every five years and issue of certificates of vending, and bars eviction until the survey and certification are complete
The right to practise any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business — the constitutional foundation on which the Supreme Court built the street vendors' right to trade on public streets subject to reasonable restrictions, which the 2014 Act later codified
Urban poverty alleviation and regulation of urban amenities fall to Urban Local Bodies, which is why Town Vending Committees and vendor surveys are ULB functions
Over 875 crore digital transactions by street vendors is one of the clearest measures of UPI's penetration into the cash economy, and the cashback incentive is the policy lever that drove it
SVANidhi se Samriddhi's eight-scheme linkage is a template for delivering social security to informal workers by using one scheme's beneficiary database as the entry point to others — the same logic as the e-Shram registry
Jan Dhan account → Aadhaar-linked identity → UPI transaction record → PM SVANidhi collateral-free credit is the full JAM-to-credit chain in one scheme
The 2014 Act's requirement that no vendor be evicted before a survey and certification remains the central unenforced protection in Indian cities, and is the standard Mains counterpoint to the scheme's credit success
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections; GS Paper 3 > Inclusive Growth
General Awareness > Financial Inclusion and Government Schemes
General Awareness > Government Schemes
General Awareness > Schemes
Consider the following statements: 1. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) helps in promoting the financial inclusion in the country. 2. NPCI has launched RuPay, a card payment scheme. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: Both 1 and 2
What is/are the facility/facilities the beneficiaries can get from the services of Business Correspondent (Bank Saathi) in branchless areas? 1. It enables the beneficiaries to draw their subsidies and social security benefits in their villages. 2. It enables the beneficiaries in the rural areas to make deposits and withdrawals. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: Both 1 and 2
'Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana' has been launched for
Answer: promoting financial inclusion in the country
The establishment of 'Payment Banks' is being allowed in India to promote financial inclusion. Which of the following statements is/are correct in this context? 1. Mobile telephone companies and supermarket chains that are owned and controlled by residents are eligible to be promoters of Payment Banks. 2. Payment Banks can issue both credit cards and debit cards. 3. Payment Banks cannot undertake lending activities. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: 1 and 3 only
Which of the following is/are included in the capital budget of the Government of India? 1. Expenditure on acquisition of assets like roads, buildings, machinery, etc. 2. Loans received from foreign governments 3. Loans and advances granted to the States and Union Territories Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: 1, 2 and 3
PM SVANidhi is a standing scheme question in banking and SSC papers and appears in Prelims through the Street Vendors Act
Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi — collateral-free working capital term loans for urban street vendors, launched 1 June 2020
The component launched on 4 January 2021 linking PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their families to eight Central welfare schemes
The body each local authority must constitute under the Street Vendors Act, 2014 to survey vendors every five years and issue certificates of vending
The design under which repayment of one PM SVANidhi loan qualifies a vendor for a larger next loan — 29.71 lakh have reached the second tranche and 8.49 lakh the third