A National Consultation Meet of stakeholders was held on Friday at BIRD, Lucknow, jointly organised by BIRD, NABARD and NABCONS to deliberate on strengthening the role of cooperative banks in agricultural Ground Level Credit (GLC).
The theme of the meet was “Improving the Share of Rural Cooperative Banks in Ground Level Credit Flow to the Agriculture Sector.”
The day-long programme featured several thematic sessions and group discussions, which saw active participation from representatives of District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) and State Cooperative Banks (STCBs) from across the country.
Stakeholders discussed policy reforms, governance issues, resource mobilisation, business diversification, and technology adoption to improve the overall credit share of cooperatives in agriculture.
During the consultation, NABARD announced the formation of a high-level expert committee to recommend measures for enhancing the share of cooperatives in agricultural credit.
The committee will be chaired by K. S. Raghupathi, Former CGM, NABARD, with Smt. S. Vijayalakshmi, Former CGM, NABARD, and Nethi Muralidhar, Former MD, Telangana State Cooperative Apex Bank, as members. The committee has been asked to submit its report by the end of this month.
The event began with welcome remarks by Dr. Nirupam Mehrotra, Director, BIRD, followed by an inaugural address delivered by Subrat Kumar Nanda, CGM, NABARD.
Representatives were divided into different thematic groups for detailed discussions on policy reforms, governance, resource mobilisation, credit enhancement, business diversification, and technology adoption.
Each group engaged in focused deliberations aimed at identifying challenges and suggesting practical measures to strengthen the cooperative banking structure.
For instance, the session on Institutional Strengthening and Governance was moderated by Smt. S. Vijayalakshmi, with Sharwan Manta, MD, Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank, serving as the session leader.
It was attended by several key officials, including Shyam Manohar, CEO, Krishna DCCB; Arvindbhai Takkar, CEO, Kaira DCCB; and Harnet Singh from Ludhiana DCCB.
Similar participation and structured discussions were witnessed in the other sessions as well, where representatives from various DCCBs and STCBs actively shared field-level experiences, operational issues, and practical recommendations.
Later in the day, each group presented its recommendations during dedicated presentation sessions. The insights emerging from the meet are expected to guide future policy actions aimed at increasing the competitiveness and credit share of rural cooperative banks in the agriculture sector.
Data shows that in FY2024, cooperative banks disbursed Rs 2.3 lakh crore in agricultural credit, accounting for 9.2% of total Ground-Level Credit (Rs 25.1 lakh crore), slightly below their target of Rs 2.6 lakh crore. Commercial banks held a 79% share, with Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) contributing 12%.
In FY2025, cooperative banks increased disbursement to Rs 2.4 lakh crore (8.4% of total agricultural credit of Rs 28.7 lakh crore), still below their target of Rs 3.0 lakh crore. While absolute disbursement rose by Rs 0.1 lakh crore, their share declined slightly. Commercial banks retained an 81% share, followed by RRBs at 10.8%.
