Union Home Minister and Minister for Cooperation Amit Shah addressed the 92nd General Council Meeting of the National Cooperative Development Corporation in New Delhi today. He said that after the establishment of the Ministry of Cooperation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there has been phenomenal growth in the cooperative sector and NCDC has emerged as the foundation of this transformation.
Amit Shah said that the government is strengthening the cooperative movement to bring about positive change in the lives of farmers, rural families, fishermen, small producers and entrepreneurs and that cooperation is playing a vital role in taking the country towards self-reliance.
In his address, Amit Shah said that the NCDC, established with the aim of empowering cooperative societies and facilitating the provision of financial assistance, has increased its financial disbursement from Rs 24,700 crore in the financial year 2020-21 to Rs 95,200 crore in 2024-25. In the last four years, the institution has taken major steps to strengthen the cooperative sector and has set new examples in financial inclusion, innovation and expansion.
Amit Shah said that the cooperative model is the best tool to make the country a developed economy as it provides inclusion and employment opportunities at the rural level. In the last four years, NCDC has achieved an annual growth rate of over 40 percent, maintained zero net NPA and earned a record profit of Rs 807 crore, which has further strengthened the reputation of the institution. In the dairy, food processing, textile and marketing sectors, the institution is working effectively through the State Cooperative Banks and Marketing Federations.
Efforts to convert PACS into Farmer Producer Organizations ensure that farmers get fair remuneration for their produce and promote collective interest rather than individual gain.
Multi-state cooperatives like NCEL, BBSSL and NCOL are active in promoting organic farming after the Green Revolution, promoting organic production and exports.
In fisheries, NCDC has achieved the target of establishing and strengthening 1,070 FFPOs, while work is underway to strengthen 2,348 FFPOs under the Pradhan Mantri Machhi Kisan Samriddhi Scheme. Financial assistance for purchase of trawlers in Maharashtra and Gujarat for deep sea fishing has boosted the blue economy and has especially empowered women fishermen economically.
Amit Shah said that circular economy should be promoted in sugar and dairy sectors to increase profitability. Based on the grant fund of Rs 1,000 crore allocated by the government, NCDC has provided Rs 10,050 crore to fifty-six sugar mills for ethanol plants and working capital, enabling them to access alternative sources of income and low-interest loans.
He said that NCDC is also playing a key role in establishing Bharat Taxi, a cooperative ride-sharing service in the country. In this regard, a new multi-state cooperative society has been registered, while work is underway on driver registration and technology.
NCDC has further expanded the scope of cooperation by setting up a new regional office in Vijayawada and sub-offices in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
Under the government’s grant fund of Rs 2,000 crore, NCDC is mobilizing Rs 20,000 crore to provide long-term and working capital loans at concessional rates to dairy, livestock, fisheries, sugar, textiles, food processing, storage, cold storage, agriculture and women’s cooperative societies. Along with this, full support has also been given to the umbrella organization of urban cooperative banks and Sahakar Sarathi, through which modern technology will be brought to urban and rural cooperative banks.
To increase youth participation, the Cooperative Intern Programme is being effectively implemented under which selected interns are providing technical and administrative support to various cooperative institutions.
The General Council of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) comprises a total of fifty-one members including senior officials from various ministries, state governments, large cooperative institutions and NITI Aayog. The Council is the apex body for policy formulation and guidelines for financial support to cooperative development, agriculture, rural infrastructure and allied sectors in the country.
