Atmanirbhar Bharat | FM Sitharaman announces special credit facility of Rs 5,000 crore for street vendors

A special credit facility of Rs 5,000 crore for street vendors will be launched by the government within a month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during her media briefing on May 14.

This scheme, she said, will facilitate easy access to credit for street vendors who have been largely affected by the nationwide lockdown. Around 50 lakh street vendors will be able to avail credit via this scheme as they restart their businesses once the lockdown is lifted.

An initial working capital of up to Rs 10,000 per person will be made available under this facility, the finance minister added.

The initiatives announced today by FM Sitharaman focus on migrant workers, small farmers, street vendors, small traders, and self-employed people.

These announcements were part of the second tranche of measures under the Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package that Prime Minister Modi outlined as Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in his May 12 address to the country.