Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that the Ministry of Cooperation has implemented 152 initiatives since its formation in July 2021 to transform India’s cooperative sector under the vision of ‘Sahkar Se Samriddhi’, with 38,138 new Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), dairy and fisheries cooperative societies registered across the country since February 2023.
Replying to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha, Shah said the Government has undertaken wide-ranging reforms covering legal changes, digitalisation, infrastructure development, cooperative banking, taxation, capacity building, IT-enabled governance, support for cooperative sugar mills and the creation of new national cooperative institutions.
The Minister informed the House that 38,138 new PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperative societies have been registered and 21,292 dairy and fisheries cooperative societies strengthened as on July 15, 2026.
The Centre aims to establish multipurpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives across all panchayats and villages over the next five years with support from NABARD, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and State governments.
Shah said the computerisation drive has made significant progress, with 63,707 PACS onboarded on ERP software, 54,707 declared as e-PACS, and more than 51.58 crore digital transactions processed through the platform. Besides, 55,514 PACS are functioning as Common Service Centres (CSCs), providing over 300 citizen services in rural India.
Highlighting progress under the World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in the cooperative sector, the Minister said 302 cooperative godowns with a storage capacity of 1.71 lakh metric tonnes have already been completed, while construction is underway at 505 PACS. Hiring assurance has also been provided for 680 cooperative godowns with a total storage capacity of 10.86 lakh metric tonnes.
The reply also highlighted major reforms for cooperative banks, including easier branch expansion, enhanced housing loan limits, relaxation in priority sector lending norms, removal of the monetary ceiling on gold loans, inclusion of rural cooperative banks under the RBI’s Integrated Ombudsman Scheme and technology initiatives such as the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC) and Sahakar Sarathi.
Shah said the Government has provided significant tax relief to cooperative societies by reducing surcharge and Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), increasing limits for cash transactions and extending several tax benefits. Cooperative sugar mills have also received major support through income-tax relief and a Rs 10,005-crore financial assistance programme implemented through the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).
The Minister highlighted the achievements of the three newly created national cooperative institutions. Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Ltd. (BBSSL) has produced over 6.07 lakh quintals of quality seeds across 15 crops, while the National Cooperative Export Ltd. (NCEL) has exported 15.40 lakh metric tonnes of agricultural commodities worth Rs 6,341 crore to 38 countries.
However, the Government admitted that no specific study has yet been undertaken to assess the contribution of cooperative institutions towards employment generation, rural development and farmers’ income. It said the National Cooperative Policy 2025 aims to triple the cooperative sector’s contribution to the Indian economy.
