12-13% NPAs in street vendors’ loan scheme, says Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

Non-performing assets (NPA) accounted for “12-13%” of the loans disbursed to street vendors under the Prime Minister’s Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM-Svanidhi) scheme, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said on Thursday.

The scheme, which was launched on July 2, 2020, has so far disbursed loans of ₹10,000 each to 30.23 lakh street vendors, of which 11.63 lakh loans have been repaid, according to the official PM-Svanidhi website. After repayment of the first loan, the vendors are eligible for a second loan of ₹20,000 and then a third loan of ₹50,000. A total of 4.35 lakh of the ₹20,000 loans have been sanctioned, of which 417 have been repaid. Fifty-six loans of ₹50,000 have been disbursed, while none of them have been repaid yet.

At a press conference, Mr. Puri launched the Svanidhi Mahotsav, a series of cultural events for street vendors and the public under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to be rolled out in 75 cities. Asked about the NPAs under the scheme, Mr. Puri said they were “12-13%”, which was not worrying for him. “The NPAs are manageable,” he said.

Asked about the ongoing Central Vista Avenue project, Mr. Puri said the work would be completed by July 18.