The Rs 13,000 crore Vishwakarma Scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, will provide traditional craftsmen and artisans with skill upgradation training, incentives and collateral free loan of upto Rs 3 lakh at a subsidised interest rate of 5%.
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) will handle the scheme. Most financial institutions, including commercial banks, regional rural banks, small finance banks, cooperative banks, Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) and micro finance institutions are eligible to lend under this scheme.
The scheme will be fully funded by the central government. The scheme offers collateral-free enterprise development loans of Rs 1 lakh (first tranche for 18 months repayment) and Rs 2 lakh (second tranche for 30 months repayment).
“Under the PM Vishwakarma scheme, the government will provide up to Rs 3 lakh loan without any bank guarantee. It has also been ensured that the interest rate is very low,” Modi said in his address at the launch event of the scheme.
The government has decided that Rs 1 lakh loan will be given in the beginning and when it is repaid, the government will provide an additional Rs 2 lakh loan to the Vishwakarma partners, the prime minister added.
The interest rates charged by the beneficiaries is fixed at 5%. The central government will provide interest subvention of upto 8%. It will be provided to the concerned banks or the other financial institutions upfront.
Under the scheme, beneficiaries will also be provided Rs 15,000 each as toolkit incentives through e-vouchers or e-RUPI. It will be a purpose-specific voucher issued by banks on behalf of the central government. This means the voucher can be utilised only for the purpose of purchase of toolkits.
To avail benefits of the scheme, a prospective beneficiary can register free of charge through common services centres (CSCs) using the biometric-based PM Vishwakarma portal. The minimum age of the beneficiary should be 18 years on the date of registration.
The beneficiary should be engaged in the concerned trade on the date of registration and should not have availed loans under similar credit-based schemes of Central Government or State Government for self-employment/ business development.
The registration and benefits under the scheme shall be restricted to one member of the family. A person in government service and their family members shall not be eligible under the scheme.
The scheme will provide support to artisans and craftspeople of rural and urban areas across India. In the first phase, 18 traditional trades, including carpenter, potter, barber, tailor, locksmith, blacksmith and goldsmith, will be covered under the scheme.
The launch of the scheme coincided with PM Modi's birthday. The scheme is estimated to benefit around 30 lakh families, mostly from the other backward class (OBC) community. The scheme is seen as an attempt by the Modi government to woo OBC voters ahead of assembly elections in the states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana & Mizoram and the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha election.