Govt approves higher subsidised loans for street vendors under PM SVANidhi scheme

NEW DELHI: The govt has approved higher subsidised loans for street vendors under the second phase of PM SVANidhi scheme and expanded its coverage by bringing around 50 lakh more beneficiaries under its ambit. TOI has learnt that the proposal to enable around 11 lakh beneficiaries who have paid the first two tranches of subsidised loans to get UPI-linked credit cards with a limit of Rs 30,000 was also approved on Thursday.Sources said that under the revamped scheme, the beneficiaries will get subsidised loans of Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 in the first two terms, up from the earlier disbursement of Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. The amount for the third-term loan remains unchanged at Rs 50,000. Beneficiaries availing loans are eligible to get an interest subsidy of 7%.Officials said the credit card facility will help street vendors who by now have a better credit rating to have access to more rolling capital for their business and this will create more financial confidence in them. The norms of repayment will be laid down by the banks.As per the housing and urban affairs ministry, so far a little over 68 lakh street vendors have availed the first-term loan of Rs 10,000 and nearly 38.4 lakh have repaid. Out of the 23.1 lakh beneficiaries who availed the second-term loan of Rs 20,000, 9.2 lakh have paid back to the banks. In the case of the third-term loan, 4.8 lakh beneficiaries have borrowed Rs 50,000 and 3,327 of them have repaid so far.Sources said the scheme, which started during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic with a target to cover 50 lakh street vendors and was later revised, will be expanded to bring at least 1.15 crore beneficiaries under its ambit. Street vendors staying on the outskirts of municipal areas would also be covered under the scheme.In her last Budget speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the scheme has benefitted more than 68 lakh street vendors, giving them respite from high-interest informal sector loans and, building on this success, it would be revamped.