Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 June 2026 highlighted six years of the PM Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme and underscored its role in transforming the lives of street vendors across the country. Launched on 1 June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the scheme provides collateral-free working capital loans to urban street vendors through scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks, small finance banks, NBFCs and cooperative banks. Since its launch, more than 1.12 crore loans worth over Rupees 17,800 crore have been disbursed, benefitting over 75 lakh beneficiaries across cities and towns. The Prime Minister described PM SVANidhi as a scheme rooted in trust, dignity and empowerment, noting that it has ensured access to collateral-free credit, financial inclusion and new opportunities for growth. The initiative offers a first loan of up to Rupees 10,000 followed by enhanced loans of Rupees 20,000 and Rupees 50,000 on timely repayment, along with interest subsidy at 7 per cent and a cashback of up to Rupees 1,200 per year for digital transactions. Nearly 95 per cent of beneficiaries accessed formal institutional credit for the first time, demonstrating the scheme deep financial-inclusion impact. Around 46 per cent of beneficiaries are women, reflecting strong gender inclusion, while nearly 70 per cent belong to marginalised communities including SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities. The scheme integrates with PM SVANidhi Plus features such as socio-economic profiling of vendor families and linkage with eight Central welfare schemes. Cabinet had extended PM SVANidhi up to December 2024 and subsequent expansions have kept the programme alive as a flagship urban livelihood and digital-payments initiative.