PSBs disbursed loan in 1 of 4 applications till Aug

Track record

- HARSH KUMAR

Alittle over one in every four applications under the PM Vishwakarma Scheme have received loans from public sector banks (PSBs), according to government data reviewed by Business Standard.

The scheme — launched in 2023 on the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide financial support and skill development to artisans in the informal sector — has received 1.2 million applications by PSBs till August 2025.

Of this, PSBs have processed 1.2 million applications and loans have been sanctioned for 397,852 applicants. However, only 333,632 loans amounting 27.2 percent of the total applications have finally been disbursed.

India’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India, received over 521,618 applications, processed nearly all of them but sanctioned only 143,567 applications. It disbursed 122,659 loans or 23.4 per cent of total applications.

Disbursal of loans by other major PSBs, such as Punjab National Bank (38.3 per cent), Bank of Baroda (28.7 per cent) and Canara Bank (38.2 percent) are better than SBI.