A dedicated Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Cooperation has identified 1,559 towns without an Urban Cooperative Bank (UCB) across 18 states, highlighting the immense scope for expanding cooperative banking under its ambitious ‘One UCB Per Town’ initiative.
The Task Force conducted a detailed study covering 2,039 towns. The findings show that only 480 towns currently have UCBs, leaving 1,559 towns (76%) without UCB presence.
Bihar tops the list with 144 unbanked towns out of 146 (99%), followed by Mizoram (22 of 23 towns; 96%), Punjab (159 of 166; 96%), Chhattisgarh (159 of 169; 94%), Manipur (26 of 28; 93%), Assam (91 of 98; 93%), and Jharkhand (41 of 44; 93%). Madhya Pradesh has 342 unbanked towns out of 384 (89%), while Odisha has 103 out of 116 (89%) without UCBs.
In contrast, Telangana has emerged as the best-performing state, with only 3 unbanked towns out of 42 (7%). Gujarat has 56 unbanked towns out of 198 (28%), while Kerala has 32 out of 94 (34%), reflecting comparatively stronger UCB penetration.
The Ministry’s ‘One UCB Per Town’ vision seeks to bridge these gaps by facilitating the establishment of new Urban Cooperative Banks and expanding access to cooperative banking services in underserved towns.
