Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has announced that three new apex multi-state cooperative societies under the MSCS Act, 2002 are now fully operational, giving a significant boost to India’s cooperative sector.
These societies aim to support farmers, organic producers, and exporters by providing institutional mechanisms, leveraging government schemes, and improving market access.
The Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) focuses on production, testing, certification, procurement, processing, storage, branding, labelling, and packaging of foundation and certified seeds through PACS.
It has already enrolled 31,605 PACS/cooperative societies as members, and seeds are marketed under the ‘Bharat Beej’ brand, ensuring quality and availability across the country.
The National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) provides support for organic farming, including aggregation, certification, testing, processing, marketing, logistics, and financial facilitation for farmers through PACS and FPOs.
NCOL has launched 28 organic products under the ‘Bharat Organics’ brand, including pulses, cereals, spices, jaggery, and organic nuts, available in Delhi-NCR. All products are 100% batch tested for 245+ pesticides, and 10,035 PACS/cooperatives have joined the initiative so far.
The National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL) focuses on promoting exports of cooperative products and services globally. With 13,848 PACS/cooperatives as members, NCEL has exported approximately 13.09 LMT of agri commodities worth Rs 5,397 crore and provided a 20% dividend to its member cooperatives in FY 2023-24.