PM Vishwakarma

What is it?

PM Vishwakarma is for artisans and craftspeople who work with their hands and simple tools in family-based traditional trades: carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, tailors, barbers, cobblers and a dozen others. Most work informally, without any formal identity as a business or any route to bank credit.

The scheme tries to fix both problems at once. It first issues a certificate and ID card that formally recognise the artisan, then provides short skill training with a daily stipend, an e-voucher towards buying proper tools, and finally collateral-free working capital at a subsidised interest rate, released in two tranches so the second depends on the first being used well.

Alongside the money there is marketing help: quality certification, branding, onboarding to e-commerce platforms and the government procurement marketplace, plus a small reward for accepting digital payments.

Potential benefit

₹15,000 – ₹3,00,000 package

A PM Vishwakarma certificate and ID card; skill training with a stipend of Rs 500 per day; a toolkit e-voucher of up to Rs 15,000; a collateral-free enterprise loan of up to Rs 3 lakh in two tranches (Rs 1 lakh then Rs 2 lakh) at 5 per cent concessional interest; and Rs 1 per digital transaction up to 100 transactions a month. Potential benefit subject to official approval.

Who can apply?

• Age 18 or above on the date of registration

  Where this comes from

  Minimum age should be 18 years on the date of registration

  Official source ↗
• You work in a traditional trade with your hands and tools

  Where this comes from

  Engaged in one of the mentioned 18 family-based traditional trades

  Official source ↗

Other conditions stated by the government

• You must work with your hands and tools in one of 18 notified traditional trades, in the unorganised sector or on a self-employment basis. The trades are carpenter, boat maker, armourer, blacksmith, tool kit maker, locksmith, goldsmith, potter, sculptor or stone carver, cobbler, mason, basket, mat and broom maker, toy maker, barber, garland maker, washerman, tailor and fishing net maker.
• People employed in government service are not eligible.
• Only one member per family can benefit. Family means husband, wife and unmarried children.
• You must not have taken a loan under a similar central or state self-employment or business credit scheme in the past five years.

Eligibility information is provided for informational purposes only. Final eligibility and approval are determined by the relevant government authority.

Documents you will need

We have not been able to confirm the document list from an official source, so we have left it out rather than guess. Check the official source linked above.

How to apply

Register at a Common Service Centre, where an agent enrols you on the scheme portal using Aadhaar biometric authentication. The application then passes through a three-stage verification before your certificate and ID card are issued. Once verified you can access training, the toolkit voucher and the credit tranches in sequence.

Where to apply: csc and online

Deadline

No fixed deadline. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.