Street vendor push: Loan hike, credit cards okayed | India News

NEW DELHI: 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 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.