New Delhi: Sensing adverse impact on the livelihood of thousands of street vendors across India due to COVID-19 pandemic, the government on Thursday announced a Rs 5,000- crore special credit facility to benefit nearly 50 lakh such vendors. The scheme will be launched within one month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press briefing.

The minister said that Rs 10,000 loan will be given to the needy vendors, but this is not a fixed amount, and will be decided after consultation with banks. Digital payments will be incentivized through monetary rewards and enhanced working capital credit would be made available for good repayment behaviour, she said.

The minister said the scheme will support nearly 50 lakh street vendors and will provide liquidity of Rs 5,000 crore.

The announcement came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 20 lakh-crore stimulus support to boost different sectors and help farmers and poor which have been facing a tough time during the nationwide lockdown continuing for over 40 days to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The current 3.0 lockdown will end on May 17.