The Centre on Thursday launched a mobile app for street vendors to ease their loan application process under the PM SVANidhi scheme which completed three years on Thursday.
The PM SVANidhi is a micro credit scheme which was launched by the Central government in 2020 to provide handholding support to street vendors, to tide over pandemic-induced economic stress.
The scheme facilitates a working capital collateral-free loan of ₹10,000, with subsequent loans of ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 with 7% interest subsidy.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri also launched a facility to provide easy access to vendors for obtaining Udyam Registration Certificate for promotion of their business. The ‘Udyam’ registration certificate for street vendors was launched with the help of the Ministry of Small and Medium enterprises. It simplifies the process of registering a business.
The Minister also felicitated states and lending institutions like the State Bank of India, the Bank of Baroda, the Union Bank of India and the Andhra Pradesh Grameen Vikas Bank, which have shown good performance under the scheme.
The scheme facilitates working capital loans in three tranches to the street vendors. It has been providing microcredits to more than 36 lakh street vendors across India.
As on June 30, 2023, as many as 48.5 lakh loan applications have been sanctioned, with over 46.4 lakh loans disbursed to street vendors, amounting to a total of ₹5,795 crore.
