UP street vendors top PM SVANidhi: 6.44 bn disbursed
The PM S t r e e t Ve n d o r ’ s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (SVANidhi) scheme has generated enthusiastic response from the street vendors, who have been looking for access to affordable working capital credit for re-starting their businesses post the covid lockdown. Of the 2.6 million loan applications received in the country as of 6 November, 2020, as many as 1.36 million have been sanctioned and 656,423 loans totalling `6.44 billion have been disbursed. Already `13.49 billion in loans have been sanctioned. Some 146,527 bank branches have onboarded.
The scheme, launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, intends to provide collateral free loans of 1-year tenure, to approximately 5 million street vendors, to help them resume their businesses in the urban areas and surrounding semi-urban/ rural areas. There will also be a 7% discount on interest on timely repayment and there will be `100 cashback a month on digital transactions. One can upload the loan application online oneself at any common service center or municipal office or bank.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently interacted with some beneficiaries of SVANidhi Yojana from Uttar Pradesh through video conferencing. He said more than 650,000 applications are from UP alone, out of which, 425,000 applications have been approved. Most of the street vendors who were given the loans the scheme are repaying their loans on time proving that small time borrowers do not compromise on their honesty and sincerity, he said. He also added that for the first time since independence street vendors are getting unsecured affordable loans. Now, the banks are reaching the doorsteps of people to provide loans for helping the latter start their ventures, he pointed out.
Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs recently formalized an API integration between the SVANidhi portal and the State Bank of India portal. This integration will facilitate seamless flow of data between the two portals in a secure environment and expedite the loan sanctioning and disbursement process.