Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah chaired a series of review meetings in New Delhi on national-level cooperative initiatives aimed at strengthening the cooperative banking ecosystem, promoting organic products through cooperatives, and expanding the global reach of cooperative products through exports. The meetings were attended by Minister of State for Cooperation Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Chairman of NABARD Shri Shaji K.V., and representatives from key cooperative institutions including the proposed Cooperative Bank of India (COBI), Sahakar Sarathi Private Limited (SSPL), National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL), and National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL).
During the cooperative banking review, emphasis was placed on technology adoption, improved governance, cybersecurity, digital payments, common service platforms, and enhanced service delivery. The integration of MuleHunter.AI with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) was discussed to strengthen fraud risk management and cybersecurity capabilities within cooperative banks. NUCFDC, the Umbrella Organisation for Urban Cooperative Banks, is working to bring all Urban Cooperative Banks on a common platform and expand its membership base to cover the entire UCB sector, facilitating greater access to shared services and technology solutions.
SSPL has rolled out AePS services, and e-KYC is already live in select cooperative banks, with expansion underway in some states targeting coverage of 100 cooperative banks by August 2026. This initiative has significantly reduced the cost of digital banking services for cooperative banks. Shri Amit Shah emphasized that all Rural Cooperative Banks should become members of Sahakar Sarathi Private Limited and all Urban Cooperative Banks should become members of NUCFDC to avail services from these institutions.
For the organic and export initiatives, NCOL was directed to scale up procurement operations to source organic produce from a larger number of organic farmers across the country, including identifying and mapping organic producers, facilitating testing, certification, quality assurance, capacity building, and compliance with organic standards. NCOL should provide strong market linkages for organic produce to ensure farmers access remunerative markets.
NCEL was tasked with expanding market linkages in international markets for cooperative products, enhancing business engagement with member cooperatives, strengthening the national cooperative export ecosystem, and working closely with various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India to promote cooperative exports. NCEL should actively identify and develop export opportunities for niche and value-added products to improve global presence.
The Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the cooperative sector in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Sahakar Se Samriddhi', focusing on innovation, financial inclusion, digital transformation, sustainable agriculture, better market access for farmers, and global competitiveness of cooperative products.