Beneficiaries of the schemes launched/initiatives taken under cooperatives

Beneficiaries of the schemes launched/initiatives taken under cooperatives

(a)  Under the national plan to expand the cooperative footprint, 32,802 new multipurpose PACS, dairy, and fishery societies have been registered, while 15,793 existing societies have been strengthened. Individual and community-level benefits include:

(b) Ministry of Cooperation, since its inception on 6^th July, 2021, has undertaken several initiatives to realize the vision of “Sahakar-se-Samriddhi” and to strengthen & deepen the cooperative movement from Primary to apex-level Cooperatives in the country and strengthen the sector in the future. The list of such initiatives are attached as Annexure

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Annexure

Initiatives Taken by the Ministry of Cooperation

 

Ministry of Cooperation, since its inception on 6^th July, 2021, has undertaken several initiatives to realize the vision of “Sahakar-se-Samriddhi” and to strengthen & deepen the cooperative movement from Primary to apex-level Cooperatives in the country. The list of initiatives taken, including progress made so far is as follows:

 

 

Government, in consultation with all the stakeholders, including States/ UTs, National Level Federations, State Cooperative Banks (StCBs), District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), etc., has prepared and circulated Model Bye-laws for PACS to all the States/ UTs, which enable PACS to undertake more than 25 business activities, improve governance, transparency, and accountability in their operations. Provisions have also been made to make the membership of PACS more inclusive and broad-based, giving adequate representation to women and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. So far, 32 States/ UTs have adopted Model Bye-laws or their existing bye-laws are in line with Model Bye-laws.

 

To strengthen PACS, a project for the Computerization of functional PACS with a total financial outlay of ₹2925.39 Crore has been approved by the Government of India, which entails bringing all functional PACS in the Country onto a common ERP-based national software, linking them with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) through StCBs and DCCBs. A total of 79,630 PACS from 31 States/ UTs have been sanctioned under the project. A total of 61,025 PACS have been onboarded on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software, and hardware has been procured by 30 States/UTs.

 

The Government of India has approved the plan to establish new multipurpose PACS/dairy/fisheries cooperatives, aiming to cover all panchayats and villages in the country over the next five years. This initiative is supported by NABARD, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), and State/UT Governments. As per the National Cooperative Database, a total of 32,802 new PACS, Dairy and Fishery Cooperative Societies have been registered; and 15,793 Dairy and Fisheries Cooperative Societies have been strengthened as on 20.01.2026 across the country since the approval of the plan on 15.2.2023.

 

To ensure effective and timely implementation of the plan, the Ministry of Cooperation, in coordination with NABARD, NDDB, and NFDB, has launched a Standard Operating Procedure (Margdarshika) on 19.9.2024, indicating the targets and timelines for all stakeholders concerned

 

 

Currently, the State Department of Food and Civil Supplies, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Limited (NCCF) have given hiring assurance for godowns to be constructed in 287 PACS, and construction work has commenced in 208 PACS, out of which construction completed in 109 PACS (Rajasthan. -90, Maharashtra- 15 and Gujarat – 4)

 

 

 

Based on the decisions taken in the meeting held on 2.6.2025 under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Home and Cooperation Minister, Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been entrusted to identify PACS, provide hiring assurance, and ensure the annual hiring of these warehouses. The following progress has been made:

 

An MoU has been signed between the Ministry of Cooperation, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), NABARD, and CSC e-Governance Services India Limited for providing more than 300 e-services such as banking, insurance, Aadhar enrolment/ updation, health services, PAN card, and IRCTC/ Bus/ Air ticket, etc., through PACS. So far, 52,018 PACS have started providing CSC services to rural citizens.

 

Thereafter, with the initiative of Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India, additional target of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) was allocated to NCDC by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GoI, for formation and promotion of FPOs in cooperative sector through strengthening of PACS under the scheme and NCDC got target of 1117 FPOs and registered/onboarded 1117 FPOs through the members of PACS. This will help provide farmers with necessary market linkages and a fair and remunerative process for their produce.

NCDC has disbursed ₹245 crore to FPOs/Cluster-Based Business Organizations (CBBOs) under the scheme as of 15.01.2026.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C. Relief to Cooperative Societies in the Income Tax Act

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Government, through the Budget 2023-24, has increased the cash withdrawal limit of cooperative societies without deduction of tax at source from Rs.1 crore to Rs.3 crore per year. This provision will save Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) for cooperative societies, which they will be able to use to work for the benefit of their members.

W.e.f. 01.10.2024, the S.194Q has been brought under the ambit of S. 197, enabling the taxpayers to apply for a lower/nil deduction certificate in respect of transactions that require TDS compliance u/s. 194Q.

 

A sunset clause has been inserted in Section 206C(1H), rendering the provisions of the said section inapplicable with effect from 1st April 2025.

 

D. Revival of Cooperative Sugar MillsMinistry, updated

 

The Government has issued a clarification that cooperative sugar mills would not be subjected to additional income tax for paying higher sugarcane prices to farmers up to a Fair and Remunerative or State Advised Price, from April 2016 onwards.

 

 

 

 

Ministry of Cooperation has taken the initiative in consultation with the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd. (NFCSFL) for the conversion of existing molasses-based ethanol plants of CSMs into multi-feed ethanol plants. The Cooperative Sugar Mills (CSMs) also produce ethanol from molasses and sugar syrup by installing ethanol production plants. However, the availability of raw material, i.e., molasses and sugar syrup for production of ethanol, is limited by many factors, viz, Government Policy on diversion of sugarcane syrup, B heavy molasses for production of ethanol, and duration of sugar cane crushing season and availability of sugarcane depending on rainfall, etc. On account of these limiting factors, the CSMs having ethanol plants are not able to operate them at full capacity throughout the year. The Government of India has prioritized maize for the production of ethanol; therefore, it is prudent for CSMs to convert their existing ethanol production units into multi-feed ethanol production units so that they are able to produce ethanol by using maize as raw material. While NCDC has agreed to provide a loan for this purpose, DFPD has launched a scheme exclusively for cooperative sugar mills to provide interest subvention at the rate of 6% per annum or 50% of the actual interest, whichever is lower, for a period of 5 years on their loan. Further, OMCs shall give Priority-1 to CSMs, who will benefit from the Interest Subvention Scheme, for ethanol procurement, enabling transition from single feedstock to multi-feedstock.

 

 

Indian Potash Limited, on the suggestions of the Ministry of Cooperation, has taken an initiative for the revival of closed Cooperative Sugar Mills. On 08.03.2025, Hon’ble Home and Cooperation Minister performed the “Bhoomi Pujan” ceremony for the revival and modernization of Shri Bileshwar Khand Udyog Khedut Sahakari Mandali Ltd., Kodinar, and Shri Talala Taluka Sahakari Khand Udhyog Mandali Ltd., Talala. In addition to this, IPL is also taking steps for the revival of Shri Valsad Sahakari Khand Udhyog Mandali, Ltd., Valsad. These steps will benefit thousands of farmers in the area where the above cooperative Sugar Mills are located.

 

 

Government has established a new apex multi-state cooperative seed society under the MSCS Act, 2002, namely Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) as an umbrella organization to focus on production, testing, certification, procurement, processing, storage, branding, labelling and packaging of all two generations of seeds i.e. foundation and certified, through PACS by leveraging various schemes and policies of different ministries of the Government of India.  BBSSL has launched its seed under the brand ‘Bharat Beej’.  So far, 33,077 PACS/ Cooperative Societies have become members of BBSSL

 

Government has established a new apex multi-state cooperative organic society under the MSCS Act, 2002, namely National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) as an umbrella organization to provide institutional support for aggregation, certification, testing, procurement, storage, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, logistic facilities, marketing of organic products and facilitate in arranging financial assistance to the organic farmers through its member Cooperatives including PACS/FPOs along with promotional and developmental activities of organic products with the help of various schemes and agencies of the Government. So far, 11,823 PACS/ cooperative societies have become members of NCOL. NCOL has launched its products under the brand name of “Bharat Organics”. So far  28 organic products (Arhar Dal, Brown Chana, Chana Dal, Kabuli Chana, Masoor Malka, Masoor Split, Masoor Whole, Moong Dhuli, Moong Split, Moong Whole, Rajma Chitra, Urad Dal, Urad Gota, Urad Split, Urad Whole, Wheat Atta, Jaggery Cube, Jaggery Powder, Brown Sugar, Khandsari Sugar, Coriander Powder, Turmeric Powder, Fenugreek, Coriander Whole, Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic Goan Cashews, Organic Kashmiri Almonds, Organic Kashmiri Walnuts) under Bharat Organics brand are available in Delhi-NCR and Bangaluru. Bharat Organics products are 100% batch tested for 245+ pesticides in accredited laboratories.

 

Government has established a new apex multi-state cooperative export society under the Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002, namely National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL) as an umbrella organization to focus on exporting the surpluses available in the Indian cooperative sector by accessing wider markets beyond the geographical contours of the country, thereby, increasing the demand of Indian Cooperative products/services across the globe and fetch best possible prices for such products/services. It will promote exports through various activities, including procurement, storage, processing, marketing, branding, labelling, packaging, certification, research and development, etc, and trading of all types of goods and services produced by cooperative societies. So far, 13,890 PACS/ cooperative societies have become members of NCEL. NCEL has so far exported approximately 13.84 LMT of 40 Agri commodities like Rice, Wheat, Maize, Sugar, Onion, Cumin seed, etc., worth Rs. 5,577.84 crore to 29 countries. During the financial year 2023-24, a dividend of 20% was provided by NCEL to its member cooperatives.

Hon’ble Home and Cooperation Minister on 6th April 2025 laid the foundation stone for the Beej Anusandhan Kendra, a state-of-the-art research center in Kalol, Gujarat. “Beej Anusandhan Kendra” will play a pivotal role in enhancing farmers’ economic prosperity while also actively promoting innovation and inclusive growth in the agriculture sector. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), and Bhartiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) have formally entered into a Tripartite Service Agreement on 3rd June 2025 to establish the Beej Anusandhan Kendra.

 

 

 

 

The Ministry of Cooperation has established a national-level university in the cooperative sector, namely, “Tribhuvan” Sahkari University (TSU), by converting the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). It has been established and declared as an institution of national importance through an Act of Parliament.

 

In this regard, “Tribhuvan” Sahkari University Bill, 2025 was passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 26th March,2025 and 1^st April,2025 respectively. Further, the Gazette notification for commencement of the Act and for establishment of the university was issued on 4th April, 2025, establishing the university w.e.f. 6th April 2025.

 

Since the University was established after converting an existing institute, it has become functional immediately. Further, the appointment of the officiating Vice-Chancellor, Registrar & Finance Officer has been made. The Governing Board of the University and the Executive Council have also been constituted, and Statutes of the University have been notified by the Ministry. Ordinances of the University have also been notified by the TSU.

 

Moreover, the land for the construction of additional infrastructure has also been allotted by the Government of Gujarat on a lease basis for 50 years, and the foundation stone laying has also been done for the new building of the University on 5^th July 2025.

 

 

 

Regarding the affiliation with the University, seven institutes, including Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM) Pune, have been affiliated, and over 25 applications are currently under review by the University.

 

 

 

 

 

Under the guidance of the Ministry of Cooperation, and in consultation with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the National Council for Cooperative Training (NCCT) has designed and prepared a Special Module on Cooperation which aims to bring awareness among school students about the role of cooperatives in nation building so that they are encouraged to choose cooperatives as a career. The Special Module will be introduced for the Secondary stage students of NCERT Schools.

 

NCERT has included a chapter on cooperatives for Class 6 in its school curriculum, under persuasion by NCCT with the direction of the Ministry of Cooperation, which helps the class students to be aware of the cooperative movement in brief.

 

On the directions of the MoC, the NCCT has constituted a committee for the development of NEP-aligned, age-appropriate, grade-specific Special Modules on Cooperation for the students of Classes VI to X.   

 

 

 

 

 

VAMNICOM has initiated the launch of a new programme, PGDM-Cooperation, for the Academic year 2025, affiliated to AICTE, New Delhi, with an intake capacity of 30 students.

 

Pilot Project was undertaken for the training of Members, Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officers/ Secretaries of PACS in four districts of four states, namely: Una (Himachal Pradesh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Sambalpur (Odisha), and Theni (Tamil Nadu).  The contents of the training included topics like concept and benefits of cooperatives, roles and responsibilities of the above-mentioned categories of cooperative personnel, Model Bye-Laws with opportunities for business diversification, etc. Under the project, a total of 85,219 participants belonging to 284 PACS were trained in 4 States. Wide publicity was given by posting the photographs and content on all social media platforms.

 

NCCT, in collaboration with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, conducted Training Programmes for PACS on-boarded into the CSC Portal. The objective of the Training programmes was to train the Secretaries/ Computer operators of 30,000 PACS for diversifying the business activities of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies through 300 Services of the CSC portal. A total of 648 programmes were conducted and trained 30210 PACS participants from 564 districts spread across 25 states.

 

Recently, a meeting was held by Secretary, MoC, in which it was decided that the CSC, in collaboration with the NCCT, may undertake another training project for the activation of 9007 PACS already on-boarded on the CSC Portal and also train 15548 PACS for their on-boarding on the CSC Portal. The initiative is at the discussion stage with CSC, identification of PACS is underway, and other modalities of training programmes are being worked out in consultation with CSC.

 

During July 2025, the NCCT started conducting the training programmes for newly established M-PACS at the direction of the Ministry. As of 20.06.2025, a total of 22283 MPCS have been established in the country (As per the NCD Portal), all of which may be covered for training purposes.

 

As on 31.12.2025, a total of 222 training programmes have been conducted in which 10038 participants have been trained.

 

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the National Council for Cooperative Training (NCCT) and the Crop Insurance Division of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), GoI, New Delhi, on 20.01.2025.  The objective of the MoU is to enable a larger ecosystem for creating a capacity-building and knowledge management framework under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)/ Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) Schemes.  Accordingly, NCCT has submitted a proposal to MoA&FW for conducting 200 training programmes and to train 10,000 participants of PACS, which is under their consideration at present. The MoA&FW has approved the proposal of NCCT to be implemented in phases.

 

RICM, Chandigarh, has launched a biannual peer-reviewed journal titled “Sahkarita Anusandhan – A Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Science” to promote research and knowledge dissemination in the field of cooperatives and social sciences.

 

The 1^st issue of the Journal has been released in April, 2025. The 2^nd issue of the journal was released in December, 2025.

 

RICM, Chandigarh, has taken the initiative to revive the Post Graduate Diploma in Management – Agri-Business Management (PGDM-ABM), duly approved by AICTE. Process for starting 1^st Batch of the PGDM-ABM programme, like advertisement, admission, etc., has been started in December, 2025.

 

 

 

The Central Registrar’s office has been computerized to create a digital ecosystem for Multi-State Cooperative Societies, which is assisting in processing applications and service requests in a time-bound manner.

 

Centrally sponsored project for computerization of RCS offices in States/Union Territories has been approved by the Central Government on 06.10.2023 with a budgetary outlay of Rs.94.59 crore for three years w.e.f. 2023-24. This is a part of the umbrella project of “Strengthening Cooperatives Through IT Interventions” of the Ministry. The project aims to enhance the ease of doing business for Cooperative Societies and create a digital ecosystem for transparent, paperless interaction of cooperative societies with the RCS offices in all States/Union Territories. Under the project, grants are being provided to the States/ UTs for procurement of hardware, development of software, maintenance & upgradation of software, etc. The software developed under this scheme will be as per the Cooperative Acts of the respective States/UTs. During the financial years 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 (up to 20^th January, 2026), 35 States/UTs have submitted their proposals, and Rs 26.82 crore has been released as the Government of India’s share to States/UTs.

 

 

H. Steps taken by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

 

 

 

 

 

NCDC and National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on financing, training, and capacity building of dairy cooperatives. Under this agreement, both institutions will together provide financial and technical assistance to empower small producers in the dairy sector, thereby increasing the income of farmers and strengthening dairy societies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

      I. Creation of National Cooperative Database (NCD)

 

 

 

 

J. Policy and Outreach

 

 

     A wide range of more than 2500 activities were organized throughout the year with the objective of increasing transparency & accountability, improving operational efficiency, promoting cooperation among cooperatives, engagement of youth and women in cooperatives and strengthening cooperative governance through Model Bye-laws. These include organization of various workshops, tree plantation drives, training programs, capacity-building sessions, exhibitions, sports events, walkathons, and awareness campaigns. These activities were being conducted at various stages including the level of individual cooperative societies, district level, state level and national level.

During IYC-2025, extensive awareness and outreach campaigns were also carried out, ensuring nationwide visibility of the IYC logo through Indian Railways E-tickets, cooperative product packaging, official websites and official communications. Key national-level initiatives included the successful organization of the National Conference of Cooperation Ministers States/UTs on 30^th June 2025 and a national event on 06^th July 2025, on the occasion of the 4^th Foundation Day of the Ministry of Cooperation at Anand, Gujarat.

 

Today, the Ministry’s combined following across platforms, including X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, stands at over 6 lakh followers/subscribers, with total video viewership crossing 1.46 crore views on YouTube. Notably, the Ministry of Cooperation ranks top 10 among all Ministries on YouTube and website engagement and traffic, reflecting its growing digital impact.

In addition, the Ministry is actively encouraging State Governments and National Cooperative Federations and other stakeholder organizations to amplify the Ministry’s initiatives by sharing its posts and content through their respective social media handles, thereby ensuring broader and more coordinated communication outreach across the cooperative ecosystem. A dedicated portal has been also launched on 24^th December 2025 for data repository of IYC activities and media outreach activities of the Ministry and its stakeholders.

 

K. Multi-State Cooperative Societies

 

L. Other Initiatives

 

 

This information was given by Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

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