PM SVANidhi Extends Rs 18,475 Cr Collateral-Free Loans to 76.95 Lakh Vendors

New Delhi: Nearly 77 lakh street vendors have availed 1.15 crore collateral-free working capital loans worth more than Rs 18,475 crore under the PM SVANidhi scheme till July 12 this year, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In a written reply to a question, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal said the Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme was launched on June 1, 2020 with the objective of facilitating collateral-free working capital term loans to urban street vendors. He said that under the restructured scheme, approved by the Union Cabinet in August last year, working capital term loans are provided to the street vendors in three tranches of up to Rs 15,000, Rs 25,000, and Rs 50,000 for repayment in 12 months, 18 months, and 36 months respectively through monthly instalments. "As on 12th July, 2026, 76.95 lakh street vendors have availed 1.15 crore collateral-free loans amounting to Rs 18,475.06 crore under the Scheme," the minister said in the written reply. Impact assessment studies of the PM SVANidhi scheme were undertaken by Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad in 2023 and 2025. According to the minister's reply, the 2023 study was conducted in 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the country covering more than 5,000 beneficiaries and it found that PM SVANidhi was the first loan from a bank for 95 per cent of the beneficiaries. The 2025 study was conducted in 99 ULBs across the country covering more than 5,000 beneficiaries (with around 60 per cent of the respondents being part of the 2023 study sample) and it found that the average annualised business income among SVANidhi borrowers grew by around 20 per cent, between 2023 and 2025.