The Chief Minister's Office of Uttar Pradesh, citing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, announced on Friday, 12 June 2026 that 60,000 street vendors in Varanasi alone have received the first tranche of loans under the PM SVANidhi scheme, highlighting the scheme's reach in one of the state's most prominent cities. The post, shared by the official CMO account, states in Hindi: 'पीएम स्वनिधि योजना के अंतर्गत अकेले वाराणसी में 60 हजार स्ट्रीट वेंडर्स को पहली किस्त का लाभ प्राप्त हुआ है' — meaning, 'Under the PM SVANidhi scheme, as many as 60,000 street vendors in Varanasi alone have received the benefit of the first tranche.' The statement is attributed directly to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Context

PM SVANidhi — formally the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme — was launched on 1 June 2020 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat COVID-19 relief package. It offers collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors, with a first tranche of up to Rs 10,000, a second tranche of up to Rs 20,000, and a third tranche of up to Rs 50,000 — each subsequent tranche conditional on timely repayment of the previous one. Varanasi is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, making it a city of particular political and administrative visibility when central scheme outcomes are reported.

Policy Backdrop

According to the CMO's statement, of the 60,000 first-tranche beneficiaries in Varanasi, 26,800 have gone on to receive the second tranche, and more than 5,000 have received the third tranche as well. The progression through tranches indicates that a significant subset of beneficiaries repaid earlier loans on schedule, unlocking higher credit limits that vendors say have allowed them to expand their businesses. The scheme's design — linking higher loan amounts to demonstrated repayment — is intended to integrate informal street vendors into the formal financial system over time, building credit histories that could support future access to mainstream banking products.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are urban street vendors — a segment of the informal workforce that was among the hardest hit by COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. In Uttar Pradesh, the state government has consistently publicised beneficiary numbers under PM SVANidhi as part of broader financial inclusion messaging. For vendors who have reached the third tranche, the loan ceiling of Rs 50,000 represents a meaningful injection of working capital for small-scale hawkers and cart operators. The CMO's post specifically notes that these beneficiaries have used the funds to expand their businesses, though the nature of that expansion is not detailed in the announcement. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs remains the nodal central authority monitoring disbursement and repayment data nationally, with state governments acting as implementing partners.

What's Next

The release of statewide and national PM SVANidhi progress reports by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will be watched for whether Varanasi's figures reflect a broader UP-wide or national trend of multi-tranche uptake. State-level review meetings on loan disbursement and repayment rates are expected to follow as the scheme matures. If the multi-tranche progression seen in Varanasi is replicated across Uttar Pradesh's other urban centres, it could position the state as a leading implementer of the Centre's urban micro-credit agenda ahead of the next cycle of scheme reviews.