India, Aug. 27 -- The union cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday increased the loan amount of the PM SVANidhi (Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi) scheme and added a provision of UPI-linked RuPay credit cards.

Launched in June 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the existing PM SVANidhi scheme gave collateral-free loans to street vendors over three tranches: Rs.10,000 initially, followed by Rs.20,000 and Rs.50,000 upon timely repayment. With this revamp, beneficiaries can get Rs.5,000 more in the first two tranches of the loan from Rs.10,000 and Rs.20,000 to Rs.15,000 and Rs.25,000, respectively. The third tranche remains at Rs.50,000.

The cabinet also extended the lending period to March 2030 and e...