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PM SVANidhi, launched on 1 June 2020 to give urban street vendors collateral-free working capital loans, has completed one year of its restructured phase, which the Union Cabinet approved on 27 August 2025.
Lending under the restructured scheme runs up to 31 March 2030 and targets 1.15 crore street vendors, of whom 50 lakh would be new beneficiaries.
In the first year after restructuring, 21.86 lakh loans worth ₹6,294 crore reached 10.56 lakh new beneficiaries; a UPI-linked RuPay credit card with a limit of up to ₹30,000 was introduced and 27,077 cards approved.
Since inception the scheme has enabled 78.68 lakh vendors to take more than 1.18 crore loans worth ₹19,171 crore, with ₹421 crore released as interest subsidy for timely repayment.
Fifty Street Food Hubs are to be developed with central assistance of up to ₹4 crore per hub, and the next round of Lok Kalyan Melas runs from 1 to 30 September 2026.
Restore and expand the working capital of urban street vendors whose livelihoods were disrupted, without demanding collateral
Key: Launched 1 June 2020 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Credit is delivered in escalating tranches — ₹10,000, then ₹20,000, then ₹50,000 — each unlocked by repaying the previous one, with a 7% annual interest subsidy on timely or early repayment. Access requires a Certificate of Vending or a Letter of Recommendation from the urban local body or Town Vending Committee, and the scheme operates in States and UTs that have notified rules under the Street Vendors Act, 2014.
Move the scheme from emergency credit relief to a standing livelihoods and entrepreneurship programme
Key: Cabinet-approved on 27 August 2025, with lending extended to 31 March 2030 and a target of 1.15 crore vendors including 50 lakh new entrants. Adds formal credit deepening, digital financial inclusion, social security, capacity building and entrepreneurship as explicit objectives.
Give vendors a revolving formal credit line rather than only a term loan
Key: Credit limit up to ₹30,000, linked to UPI so it can be used through the payment rails vendors already use; 27,077 cards approved in the first year of the restructured phase.
Remove the administrative friction that kept eligible vendors out
Key: The Digital Lending Platform runs the whole loan cycle end to end — application, verification, approval and disbursement. The Vendor Migration Module transfers a vendor's Letter of Recommendation when they move between urban local bodies and Census Towns, so benefits are not lost on migration, which matters because street vending is a mobile occupation.
Extend coverage beyond statutory urban local bodies
Key: Census Towns — settlements that are urban in character but still governed as rural areas — are brought within the scheme's reach, closing a gap that had excluded vendors in rapidly urbanising peripheries.
Use the vendor database as an entry point to the wider welfare system
Key: Socio-economic profiling of vendor families, followed by linkage to eight selected central welfare schemes. Profiling covers more than 51.15 lakh families and has produced over 1.59 crore scheme sanctions.
Improve vending infrastructure and draw innovation into the vendor ecosystem
Key: 50 Street Food Hubs are to be developed, with financial assistance up to ₹4 crore per hub and an additional ₹25 lakh for notifying vending zones. The Startup Challenge invites solutions in market access, digital payments, financial services, logistics and vending infrastructure.
The statute that recognises street vending as a livelihood and regulates it. PM SVANidhi runs in States and UTs that have notified rules and schemes under this Act, and the Certificate of Vending or Letter of Recommendation that establishes eligibility flows from its machinery.
The body constituted under the 2014 Act at the local level to survey vendors, issue certificates of vending and demarcate vending zones. It is the institution that decides who counts as a street vendor, which makes it the gatekeeper for PM SVANidhi eligibility.
Street vending is among the largest self-employed occupations in Indian cities, and PM SVANidhi is the main formal-credit instrument aimed at it
Launched on 17 September 2023 under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, it offers a comparable credit-plus-training package to artisans and craftspeople in 18 traditional trades — the artisan counterpart to SVANidhi's vendor focus
Registered as a non-profit Section 8 company in December 2021 under an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, ONDC is the open e-commerce network through which small sellers, including street vendors, can reach buyers without a platform intermediary
The interest subsidy and cashback incentives are credited directly to vendor accounts, which is what makes an incentive-based repayment design administratively possible
Food safety training for street food vendors links a livelihoods scheme to the food regulator's hygiene standards, and is the basis on which Street Food Hubs can be certified
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections
Banking Awareness > Priority Sector and Government Credit Schemes
General Awareness > Government Schemes
General Awareness > Schemes and Current Affairs
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
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana is aimed at
Answer: bringing the small entrepreneurs into formal financial system
What is the purpose of setting up of Small Finance Banks (SFBs) in India? 1. To supply credit to small business units 2. To supply credit to small and marginal farmers 3. To encourage young entrepreneurs to set up business particularly in rural areas. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1 and 2 only
High — PM SVANidhi is standard material in SSC, banking and railway general awareness, and its statutory basis makes it UPSC-relevant
Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi — collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors, launched 1 June 2020 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
The documents, issued under the Street Vendors Act machinery by the urban local body or Town Vending Committee, that establish a person as a street vendor for scheme purposes
The local body constituted under the Street Vendors Act, 2014 to survey vendors, issue certificates of vending and demarcate vending zones
A settlement classified as urban by Census criteria but still administered as a rural area; the restructured scheme's City Region Approach brings such towns within its coverage
The component that profiles vendor families and links them to selected central welfare schemes