Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar addressed the 6th PM SVANidhi Programme event in Agartala, Tripura, on Sunday, May 31, 2026, where he felicitated beneficiaries of the flagship street vendor credit scheme. The event highlighted the scheme's role in expanding formal credit access and digital financial participation among urban informal workers across India.

Context

Khattar, who holds the portfolio of Housing and Urban Affairs in addition to Power, described PM SVANidhi as 'more than a loan scheme' — calling it 'a powerful instrument of economic inclusion.' He credited the programme with empowering street vendors with what he termed Swarozgar, Svavlamban, aur Swabhimaan (self-employment, self-reliance, and self-respect). Agartala, the capital of Tripura, served as the venue for this state-level implementation event organised under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The minister's presence at the event underscores the central government's continued focus on taking flagship urban livelihood programmes to Northeast India, a region that has been a strategic priority for the BJP-led NDA government in recent years.

Policy Backdrop

PM SVANidhi — formally the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi — was launched in June 2020 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat stimulus package, initially targeting street vendors whose livelihoods were disrupted by COVID-19 lockdowns. The scheme provides collateral-free working capital loans of up to Rs 50,000, with built-in incentives for digital transactions and interest subsidies for timely repayment.

The programme sits within a broader post-2014 financial inclusion architecture that includes Jan Dhan accounts, Mudra loans, and the expansion of UPI — together aimed at bringing the urban informal sector into the formal financial fold. SVANidhi distinguishes itself by also linking vendors to social security benefits, making it a multi-dimensional welfare instrument rather than a standalone credit line.

Stakeholders and Impact

Street vendors — a large and historically underserved segment of India's urban workforce — are the direct beneficiaries of the scheme. By providing access to institutional credit, the programme aims to free vendors from dependence on informal moneylenders who typically charge usurious rates. The push for digital transactions embedded in the scheme also integrates vendors into the broader UPI ecosystem, generating a credit footprint that can support future borrowing.

State governments and urban local bodies play a critical implementation role, as they are responsible for vendor identification, certificate issuance, and liaison with lending institutions. Events such as the one held in Agartala serve both as felicitation platforms and as outreach exercises to deepen scheme penetration in states where awareness and uptake may still be growing.

What's Next

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs conducts periodic performance reviews of PM SVANidhi, and policy observers will watch for potential enhancements — including higher credit ceilings or expanded insurance components — in forthcoming Union Budgets. Khattar's active engagement with beneficiary events signals that the ministry intends to keep the scheme's momentum visible ahead of any such policy deliberations.

As the government continues to position SVANidhi as a cornerstone of urban economic inclusion, the focus is likely to shift toward deepening coverage in smaller cities and underserved states, ensuring the scheme's transformative promise reaches the vendors who need it most.