Key Highlights

• PM Modi said women account for 46% of PM SVANidhi Yojana beneficiaries — around 35 lakh women across India.
• He described the trend as a "living example of women's empowerment" during his 137th Mann Ki Baat episode.
• He shared the story of Babita Sharma of Ghaziabad, whose roadside stall grew into a proper shop after PM SVANidhi support.
• He also cited T.S. Ningamma of Bengaluru, whose idli-dosa cart evolved into a thriving family business.
• Modi said the empowerment of a woman fuels the growth of her entire family.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday used his 137th 'Mann Ki Baat' address to spotlight one of India's most under-discussed empowerment stories — the transformation quietly unfolding among lakhs of women street vendors who are using the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Yojana to expand their livelihoods, uplift their families, and step confidently into the country's small-business ecosystem. Anchoring his message on real people from Ghaziabad and Bengaluru, the Prime Minister described this trend as a "living example" of women's empowerment.

The Numbers Behind the Story

Sharing the scale of the women-led shift within the scheme, PM Modi delivered the standout statistic of the segment.

"However, now, lakhs of such mothers and sisters are gaining new strength through the 'PM SVANidhi Yojana'. This aspect of 'women empowerment' is not discussed as much as it should be. Women account for approximately 46 per cent of the beneficiaries of the 'PM SVANidhi Yojana'. This means that around 35 lakh women across the country are expanding their businesses by connecting with this scheme," the Prime Minister said.

In a country where women's participation in the workforce continues to be a subject of national conversation, 35 lakh women anchoring their own street-based businesses through a single credit scheme is a genuinely significant marker.

'A Living Example of Women's Empowerment'

For PM Modi, the story wasn't just statistical. It was structural.

"From morning till evening, lakhs of women across the streets of our cities and towns are engaged in their work. Some sell vegetables or fruits, others run tea stalls, while some sell flowers, earthen lamps, and worship materials. Often, a mere lack of capital prevents their businesses from growing further," he said.

He noted that PM SVANidhi is providing financial support to many such women and helping them strengthen and expand their livelihoods. It is, in effect, addressing one of the oldest bottlenecks in India's informal economy — access to formal credit for the smallest self-employed businesses.

Babita Sharma's Journey From Roadside Stall to Shop

To ground the message in real lives, PM Modi shared the story of Babita Sharma of Ghaziabad. Before benefiting from PM SVANidhi, Babita ran a small roadside stall selling items used for worship — flowers, earthen lamps, incense sticks and coconuts — while contributing to her family's livelihood.

"She worked very hard, but capital was needed to grow the business. She received financial assistance through 'PM SVANidhi'. She increased her stock and expanded her business. Her customer base and income grew, and gradually, her small roadside stall transformed into a proper shop," PM Modi said.

That single arc — from wooden cart on a footpath to a permanent shop — captures exactly the kind of upward mobility PM SVANidhi is designed to enable. And it captures the emotional payoff of financial inclusion in a way statistics alone cannot.

T.S. Ningamma's Bengaluru Story

The Prime Minister then turned to a second story from Bengaluru, describing it as "very inspiring."

"Ningamma ji and her husband started a small venture selling idli, dosa, and sambar. The business took off, but capital was required to take it to the next level. Ningamma ji also received support from 'PM SVANidhi'. She upgraded her cart, began purchasing supplies in bulk, and added new items to her menu," PM Modi said.

The transformation, according to the Prime Minister, was profound. "As customers and earnings increased, the family's financial situation improved. Today, she is able to provide a better education for her three children."

That final sentence — about her ability to fund her children's education — captures the true intergenerational impact of women-led enterprise. It is not just business growth. It is the change of trajectory for an entire family.

Empowerment That Radiates Across the Household

Broadening the frame, PM Modi drew out the wider societal impact of women's economic participation.

"When a woman's business grows, the future of her entire family advances along with it. Children receive a better education, household needs are met, and the woman's self-confidence is strengthened. This is, indeed, a living example of 'women's empowerment'," the Prime Minister said.

That framing is important. In development economics, women's earnings are known to have an outsized effect on household outcomes — including nutrition, education and healthcare. PM Modi's language echoes that global consensus but reroutes it into a distinctly Indian, distinctly familiar image: the sabziwali behen at the corner, the flower-seller at the temple gate, the idli cart in the bylane.

'I Wish Every Street-Vendor Sister a Bright Future'

Ending the segment with a personal note of solidarity, PM Modi said: "I extend my best wishes for a bright future to all the sisters involved in street vending."

That direct address — to women whose work is often overlooked in India's larger economic narrative — carried a small but powerful message of national recognition.

Why It Matters

PM SVANidhi is one of the few Indian schemes designed specifically to bring the country's smallest, most informal traders — often invisible in policy conversations — into the formal credit system. That women are now 46 per cent of its beneficiaries reveals two important dynamics. First, women are proving to be among the most reliable adopters of small credit for enterprise-building. Second, when access to capital is offered on their terms, women use it not just to survive, but to grow.

For street vendor communities across India, this creates a virtuous cycle — more capital access, more business expansion, more household stability, and more downstream impact on children's education and health.

Industry and Institutional Impact

For India's banking and MSME ecosystem, the PM SVANidhi story reinforces the case for continued investment in micro-credit infrastructure that goes directly to grassroots entrepreneurs. For urban local bodies, the visible transformation of street vendors from cart to shop offers a real-world data point that can inform how licensing, vending zones and street-vendor rehabilitation policies are designed going forward.

Cultural Impact

Perhaps the most important shift PM Modi's address triggers is cultural. For years, India's economic conversation has centred on large industrial success stories and salaried employment metrics. Highlighting street-vending women as central agents of national economic empowerment quietly widens that conversation. It signals that empowerment doesn't need a corner office. It needs credit, effort, and confidence — and these women, all 35 lakh of them, are delivering all three every day.

The Bigger Picture

The PM SVANidhi women's story that PM Modi anchored in his 137th 'Mann Ki Baat' is not a moment. It is a movement. From Babita Sharma's shop in Ghaziabad to T.S. Ningamma's expanded idli-dosa business in Bengaluru, thousands of small, everyday transformations are unfolding across the country's streets, temples, markets and bylanes. Each one, powered by a formal credit lifeline that finally reached where it was needed most.

As the Prime Minister rightly noted, this is not empowerment discussed enough — but it is, in the most visible and grounded sense, the empowerment India lives every day. And on Sunday morning, through the 137th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat', those millions of women who sell, serve and support their families from the footpaths of urban India were seen, celebrated and saluted. Because in every roadside cart that becomes a shop, and every idli plate that becomes a school fee, the country is quietly writing a story of empowerment that no headline has been able to capture fully. Until now.