“I am half an hour late to NCUI Co-op Week function as we were busy launching a novel project for cooperative”, said Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh amidst thunderous applause. And the ambitious project was “Fund for Co-op Start-up”, on the lines of corporate start up.
To cater to the needs and aspirations of the youth, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has come up with a youth-friendly scheme ‘Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme” for attracting them to cooperative business ventures.
“NCDC has created a dedicated fund with liberal features enabling youth to avail the scheme,” Union Minister said at the launch of the scheme.
“The Central Government has been encouraging ‘Start-Ups’ for ease of doing business, non-conventional opportunities are emerging and are being encouraged. The conducive environment is being leveraged by private and corporate sectors and ‘Hub Start-ups’ are being promoted. The newly launched scheme would encourage cooperatives to venture into new and innovative areas”, he added.
The scheme will be linked to Rs 1000 crore ‘Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF)’ created by the NCDC. It would have more incentives for cooperatives of North Eastern region, Aspirational Districts and cooperatives with women or SC or ST or PwD members. The funding for the project will be up to 80% of the project cost for these special categories as against 70% for others.
The scheme envisages 2% less than the applicable rate of interest on term loan for the project cost up to Rs 3 crore including 2 years moratorium on payment of principal. All types of cooperatives in operation for at least one year are eligible.
The Minister explained that this scheme is expected to meet the needs of today’s youth. He added that NCDC, being the most preferred financial institution in the world of cooperatives, has embarked on Sahakar 22, a Mission for Doubling Farmers’ Income by 2022.
The Minister while complimenting the NCDC on its remarkable performance since 2014 stated that the NCDC had an excellent track record and would provide the required handholding for making the scheme a success.
The NCDC has the unique distinction of being the sole statutory organisation functioning as an apex financial and developmental institution exclusively devoted to cooperative sector. It supports cooperatives in diverse fields apart from agriculture and allied sectors. It is an ISO 9001:2015 compliant organisation and has a distinctive edge of competitive financing. It has extended financial assistance of Rs 63702.61 crore during 2014-2018 (as on November 13), 220% more than Rs 19850.6 during 2010-14.
Union Agriculture Secretary Mr Sanjay Agarwal and NCDC MD Shri Sundeep Kumar Nayak were also present at the launch.
