PM SVANidhi — Loans of ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 for Street Vendors

PM SVANidhi is a central sector scheme run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. It was launched on 1 June 2020 to bring street vendors into the formal credit system and give them affordable working capital, so that they can restart, stabilise and grow the small businesses they already run.

Rather than a one-time grant, the scheme works as a ladder. Vendors take a first small loan, repay it on time, and then become eligible for a larger second and third tranche. Alongside the loans, the scheme offers an interest subsidy, monthly cashback for digital transactions, a credit guarantee that makes lenders more willing to lend, and a RuPay credit card linked to UPI for vendors who repay their second tranche.

Street vendors are the people who sell goods and services at affordable prices right at the doorstep of city residents. The scheme names hawkers, thelewala and rehriwala among its beneficiaries, and the goods they deal in range from vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat street food, tea, bread and eggs to textiles, apparel, footwear, artisan products, and books and stationery. Vendors who provide services such as barber shops, cobbler work and laundry are covered too.

By combining credit with a push towards digital payments, PM SVANidhi aims to formalise vending activity, widen financial inclusion and help vendors move up the economic ladder. Applications run on a rolling basis, so there is no fixed closing date to apply against.

• Collateral-free working capital loans for street vendors
• Three tranches of up to ₹15,000, ₹25,000 and ₹50,000
• 7% per annum interest subsidy, credited quarterly
• Cashback of up to ₹100 per month on digital transactions
• UPI Linked RuPay Credit Card after repaying the second tranche
• Rolling applications — no fixed deadline

PM SVANidhi is built for working street vendors — including hawkers, thelewala and rehriwala — rather than for registered companies. You qualify if you fall into any one of the following categories:

• You hold a Certificate of Vending or Identity Card issued by an Urban Local Body (ULB).
• You were identified during the ULB survey but have not yet been given a Certificate of Vending or Identity Card.
• You were left out of the ULB-led identification survey, or you started vending after that survey was completed — in this case you need a Letter of Recommendation (LoR) issued by the ULB or the Town Vending Committee (TVC).
• You vend inside the geographical limits of a ULB although you come from a surrounding development, peri-urban or rural area, and you hold an LoR from the ULB or TVC.

The scheme covers both goods and services, so sellers of vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat food, tea, bread, eggs, textiles, apparel, footwear, artisan products and books/stationery are as eligible as barbers, cobblers and laundry operators. Eligibility rests on your vending status and the supporting certificate or LoR, not on a DPIIT or MSME registration.

PM SVANidhi — Loans of ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 for Street Vendors is open to startups at any stage. It is open to startups registered anywhere in India.

PM SVANidhi — Loans of ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 for Street Vendors accepts applications on a rolling basis — there is no fixed cut-off date, so eligible startups can apply at any time. Because rolling programmes can pause without notice, confirm the window is still open on the official site before you start.

The support comes as a loan, not a grant and not equity, and it is released in three stages that build on each other.

• First tranche: up to ₹15,000, repayable within 12 months.
• Second tranche: up to ₹25,000, repayable within 18 months.
• Third tranche: up to ₹50,000, repayable within 36 months.

You move to the next tranche only after repaying the previous one on time or early. There is no collateral to pledge and no prepayment penalty if you clear the loan ahead of schedule.

On top of the loan amount, beneficiaries receive:

• Interest subsidy of 7% per annum, credited to your bank account every quarter. It applies only while your account is standard (not an NPA) and remains available until 31 March 2033.
• Cashback of up to ₹100 per month on eligible digital transactions.
• A UPI Linked RuPay Credit Card with a starting credit limit of ₹10,000, extendable to ₹30,000, valid for 5 years. This becomes available after you successfully repay the second loan tranche.

Lending institutions also get a credit guarantee cover on these loans — 31.87% for the first tranche, 8.25% for the second and 6% for the third — with no charge levied on them for that cover.

PM SVANidhi — Loans of ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 for Street Vendors is offered by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, a government body. As a government-backed debt / loan, it is publicly funded and open to eligible startups across India.

Applications can be submitted online or offline, and both routes end up with the same two sets of reviewers: the concerned Urban Local Body (ULB) and the designated lending institution.

The first job of the review is to confirm that you really are an eligible street vendor. That means checking your identity and validating the status of your vending activity against official documents — a Certificate of Vending or a Letter of Recommendation being the documents the scheme relies on for this.

For the later tranches, eligibility is not the only test. A record of timely repayment of your earlier loan is a key criterion before the next, larger tranche is considered.

Final approval and disbursement sit with the lending institution. They depend on that institution's own due diligence and on your application being fully compliant with the scheme's guidelines.

Before you apply to PM SVANidhi — Loans of ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 for Street Vendors, keep the following documents ready:

• A pitch deck or short business plan describing the problem, product and traction
• Company registration documents and PAN
• Founder identification (PAN / Aadhaar) and brief profiles
• Recent financial statements or projections
• Product details — a demo, prototype or working link if available

Exact requirements are confirmed on the official application portal — treat this as a preparation checklist.

PM SVANidhi — Loans of ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 for Street Vendors is best suited for startups in India seeking non-dilutive funding of ₹15,000 – ₹50,000. If that describes your startup, review the eligibility criteria above before applying.