The nomination process for the Indian Cooperative Summit & Excellence Awards 2026 has officially closed, leaving the jury with a formidable task of identifying the most deserving institutions from nearly 300 nominations received from across the country.
The overwhelming response has brought together a wide cross-section of India’s cooperative banking and institutional landscape, including Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), credit cooperative societies, State Cooperative Banks and other cooperative organizations.
The large number of entries reflects the growing enthusiasm among cooperative institutions to showcase their achievements and gain recognition for their contribution to the sector.
The distinguished jury comprises Satish Marathe, Laxmi Dass and Ajay Jha. The jury is headed by Marathe, who served on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India for two terms and is a senior cooperative banking leader. Laxmi Dass, a veteran cooperator, is currently President of the National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies (NAFCUB). Ajay Jha is Editor-in-Chief of Indian Cooperative and has been closely tracking and analyzing the cooperative sector for two decades.
With nearly 300 nominations spread across multiple categories, the selection exercise is expected to be anything but straightforward. The jury will have to examine institutions operating in different environments, with varying business sizes, geographical footprints and areas of specialisation.
For instance, evaluating an Urban Cooperative Bank for excellence in NPA management requires a different set of parameters from assessing another institution for cybersecurity, digital payments, customer service or financial inclusion. Similarly, credit cooperative institutions and State Cooperative Banks have their own operational priorities and performance benchmarks.
The challenge, therefore, will be to ensure that the assessment remains objective, category-specific and focused on measurable achievements rather than simply the size or scale of an institution.
Indian Cooperative has received nominations across a broad range of themes, including governance, technology adoption, innovation, risk management, customer service, financial inclusion and overall institutional performance.
The jury will now undertake the task of scrutinising the entries and identifying the most deserving institutions. The emphasis is on recognising excellence while ensuring that every institution gets a fair assessment within its respective category.
The awards follow a distinctive approach of recognising one cooperative institution with one primary award in its selected category, rather than distributing multiple awards to the same institution.
The jury is expected to complete the final selection of awardees by November 1, 2026, while the names of the winners will be officially announced on November 2, 2026. The selected institutions will subsequently receive formal confirmation ahead of the awards ceremony.
The awardees will be honoured at the Indian Cooperative Summit & Excellence Awards 2026, scheduled for November 19, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The event will also mark 15 years of Indian Cooperative’s journey as India’s dedicated cooperative news platform.
