Context: Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) is signed between the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs(MoHUA) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to engage SIDBI as the Implementation Agency for PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi).
Key Points

• SIDBI will manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).
• It will develop and maintain a customized and integrated IT Platform providing end-to-end solutions, including documentation of all the processes.
• It will ensure engagement and information flow between Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), Lending Institutions, Digital Payment Aggregators and other stakeholders through a Portal and a Mobile App.
• It will also provide a Project Management Unit (PMU), comprising domain experts in training/ capacity building, project and platform management, Information Education and Communication (IEC), banking, NBFC and MFI sectors etc.

About the PM SVANidhi

• PM SVANidhi was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for providing affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoods which have been severely affected due to COVID-19 induced lockdown.
• This scheme targets to benefit over 50 lakh Street Vendors and they can avail loan up to Rs. 10,000 which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year. 
• On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through DBT. 
• In order to ensure fast implementation of the scheme with transparency, a digital platform with a web portal and mobile app is being developed to administer the scheme.
• The scheme incentivises digital transactions by the street vendors through monthly cashback.

About SIDBI

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) set up on 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament.
• It acts as the principal financial institution for Promotion, Financing and Development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector as well as coordinator for institutions which are engaged in similar activities.
• It aims to facilitate and strengthen credit flow to MSMEs and address both financial and developmental gaps in the MSME ecosystem.