Why in the news?

  • The union cabinet, increased the loan amount of the PM SVANidhi (Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi) scheme and added a provision of UPI-linked RuPay credit cards.

PM SVANidhi Scheme

  • Launch: The scheme was announced in 2020 as a part of the Economic Stimulus-II under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan as a Central Sector Scheme.
  • Aim: For providing affordable working capital loans to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
  • Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
  • Benefits under the PM SVANidhi Scheme:
    • Rate of Interest charged by Banks, NBFCs, and MFIs as per RBI norms for respective categories.
    • Interest Subsidy to be transferred through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into borrowers’ accounts in quarterly instalments.
    • Cash Back on Digital Transactions Up to ₹100 per month on specified number of transactions of value ₹25 and above.
    • Street vendors to be on-boarded with Digital Payment Aggregators like PayTM, Amazon Pay, PhonePe, etc.
    • Transaction trail created via digital payments will help build vendors’ credit score, aiding future credit needs.