PM SVANidhi scheme disburses ₹6,294 crore in loans to 21.86 lakh vendors in 12 months
Synopsis
One year into its restructured phase, PM SVANidhi has pushed ₹6,294 crore in collateral-free loans to 21.86 lakh street vendors — and is now layering on UPI-linked credit cards, a digital lending platform, and 50 Street Food Hubs. With the scheme extended to 2030 and a 1.15 crore beneficiary target on the horizon, this is India's most ambitious formal-credit push for the informal urban economy yet.
Key Takeaways
PM SVANidhi disbursed ₹6,294 crore across 21.86 lakh loans to street vendors in the past 12 months .
The restructured phase, launched on 27 August 2025 , has covered 10.56 lakh new beneficiaries in one year.
The scheme is extended to 31 March 2030 , targeting 1.15 crore vendors including 50 lakh new beneficiaries.
A UPI-linked RuPay Credit Card with a limit of up to ₹30,000 has been introduced; 27,077 cards approved so far.
50 Street Food Hubs to be developed nationwide, with up to ₹4 crore per hub in financial assistance.
Next round of Lok Kalyan Melas scheduled from 1 September to 30 September 2026 .
The Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme has disbursed 21.86 lakh loans worth ₹6,294 crore to urban street vendors in the past 12 months, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs on 27 August. The milestone marks one year since the restructured phase of the scheme was launched on 27 August 2025.
Scale and Coverage
Over the last year, the scheme has reached 10.56 lakh new beneficiaries, offering collateral-free working capital loans to street vendors in urban areas. The scheme has been extended until 31 March 2030, with an overall target of benefiting 1.15 crore street vendors — including 50 lakh new beneficiaries. Its expanded mandate now encompasses formal credit access, digital financial inclusion, social security, capacity building, and entrepreneurship support.
UPI-Linked Credit Card and Digital Lending
To deepen access to formal credit, the government has introduced a UPI-linked RuPay Credit Card with a credit limit of up to ₹30,000 for eligible vendors. As of the statement, 27,077 credit cards have been approved. An end-to-end Digital Lending Platform (DLP) has also been rolled out to streamline the entire loan cycle — from application and verification through to approval and disbursement. A Vendor Migration Module has been developed to allow seamless transfer of letters of recommendation when vendors relocate between urban local bodies and census towns, ensuring uninterrupted access to scheme benefits.
Infrastructure Push and Startup Challenge
The scheme is expanding its city-region approach to include census towns, broadening the formal credit and livelihood ecosystem for street vendors. On the enterprise development front, the ongoing PM SVANidhi Startup Challenge is inviting startups and innovators to build solutions across market access, digital payments, financial services, logistics, and vending infrastructure. Additionally, 50 Street Food Hubs (SFHs) are to be developed across the country, with cities eligible for financial assistance of up to ₹4 crore per hub and an additional ₹25 lakh for notification of vending zones.
Lok Kalyan Melas and Last-Mile Outreach
Lok Kalyan Melas are being organised to bring street vendors, banks, and Urban Local Bodies onto a common platform to facilitate credit access, welfare scheme enrolment, and capacity-building programmes. The next round of these outreach events is scheduled from 1 September to 30 September 2026, according to the ministry statement. This grassroots engagement model is central to the scheme's strategy of converting informal vendors into participants in the formal financial system.
Point of View
294 crore disbursed in 12 months is a credible operational number, but the more significant signal is the scheme's pivot from pure credit delivery to a broader financial inclusion stack — credit cards, digital lending, migration portability, and startup innovation. The real accountability question is whether the 27,077 RuPay credit cards approved represent genuine credit deepening or low utilisation rates; uptake data has not been released. With 1.15 crore vendors as the stated target and only a fraction onboarded, execution at scale — especially in census towns with weaker banking infrastructure — remains the central challenge heading into 2030.
NationPress
27 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the PM SVANidhi scheme?
PM SVANidhi, or the Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme, provides collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors to help them recover from economic disruptions and enter the formal credit system. The restructured phase was launched on 27 August 2025 and has been extended to 31 March 2030.
How many loans have been disbursed under PM SVANidhi in the last 12 months?
A total of 21.86 lakh loans worth ₹6,294 crore have been disbursed under PM SVANidhi in the 12 months since the restructured phase launched on 27 August 2025, according to the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.
What is the UPI-linked RuPay Credit Card introduced under PM SVANidhi?
It is a credit card linked to UPI, offering eligible street vendors a credit limit of up to ₹30,000 to deepen their access to formal financial services. As of the latest ministry statement, 27,077 such cards have been approved.
What are Street Food Hubs under PM SVANidhi?
Street Food Hubs are dedicated vending infrastructure clusters to be developed across India under PM SVANidhi. A total of 50 such hubs are planned, with cities eligible for up to ₹4 crore in financial assistance per hub, plus an additional ₹25 lakh for notification of vending zones.
Who is eligible for PM SVANidhi loans?
Urban street vendors are the primary beneficiaries of PM SVANidhi. The scheme is now expanding to include vendors in census towns as well, broadening its reach beyond major cities. The overall target is 1.15 crore vendors, including 50 lakh new beneficiaries.
