National Cooperation Policy Implementation Update
The Ministry of Cooperation has established institutional mechanisms for implementing the National Cooperation Policy (NCP) 2025, including a National Steering Committee chaired by the Union Minister of Cooperation and a Policy Implementation and Monitoring Committee chaired by the Union Cooperation Secretary. The first meeting of the monitoring committee was held on 09.06.2026, where it was informed that the Ministry has taken 152 initiatives for NCP implementation and all States/UTs have been advised to formulate state-level cooperation policies.
Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) Infrastructure
As of 15.07.2026, India has 1,12,895 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, with 1,07,457 functional PACS serving 13.91 crore members. Maharashtra has the highest number of functional PACS at 21,212 with 1.22 crore members, followed by Gujarat with 10,576 PACS and 33.59 lakh members. Since the approval of the government's plan on 15.02.2023 to establish new multipurpose PACS, dairy, and fisheries cooperative societies, a total of 10,225 M-PACS have been registered with 27.79 lakh members. Rajasthan leads with 2,003 M-PACS having 6.90 lakh members, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 680 M-PACS and 4.90 lakh members.
PACS Computerization Project
The Central Sector Project for Computerization of PACS, approved in 2022 with an increased financial outlay of ₹2,925.39 crore, aims to cover 79,630 PACS across 31 States/UTs. As of 15th July 2026, hardware has been delivered to 65,875 PACS, 63,707 have been onboarded on ERP software, and 54,707 have been declared as e-PACS with 51.58 crore transactions processed through the software. Maharashtra has the highest number of approved PACS at 12,178, with 12,000 hardware delivered and 12,033 ERP onboardings.
National Cooperative Database
The comprehensive National Cooperative Database tracks over 8.5 lakh cooperative societies across 30 economic sectors with approximately 30 crore members. Maharashtra has the highest number of cooperative societies at 2,27,177, followed by Gujarat with 88,119 societies. The database provides critical insights into cooperatives' geographical coverage, financial performance, and enables policy implementation, formation of new PACS, development of ranking frameworks, and estimation of the cooperative sector's economic contribution.
Key Initiatives and Achievements
The Ministry has implemented Model Bye-laws for PACS enabling over 25 business activities, with 32 States/UTs adopting them. PACS are now providing CSC services (55,514 operational), operating as PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (38,974 functional), and eligible for retail petrol/diesel outlets (394 applications received). The World's Largest Decentralized Grain Storage Plan has completed godowns in 11 PACS across 11 states under the pilot, with construction commenced in 505 PACS creating 2.84 LMT capacity and 302 PACS completed with 1.71 LMT capacity.
Financial and Regulatory Reforms
Significant tax reforms include reduction of surcharge from 12% to 7% for cooperatives with income between ₹1-10 crore, MAT reduction from 18.5% to 15%, and increased cash transaction limits for PACS from ₹20,000 to ₹2 lakh per member. RBI has provided relief to Urban Cooperative Banks by reducing PSL target from 75% to 60%, increasing housing loan limits, and removing monetary ceilings for gold loans. The ₹10,000 crore loan scheme for cooperative sugar mills has disbursed ₹10,005 crore to 56 sugar mills.
New National Level Societies
Three new apex multi-state cooperative societies have been established: Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) for seed production with 38,665 member cooperatives; National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) with 14,286 member societies and 29 organic products under Bharat Organics brand; and National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL) with 16,408 member societies exporting 15.40 LMT of commodities worth ₹6,341 crore to 38 countries.
Capacity Building and Education
The Ministry has established 'Tribhuvan' Sahkari University by converting IRMA, launched three new MBA programs, and initiated training programs for one lakh PACS secretaries. NCCT has conducted 254 training programmes covering 11,399 participants from 2,502 PACS across 17 States. The National Labour Cooperative Federation impact assessment and strategic studies for NCUI and FISHCOPFED have been completed to enhance cooperative sector resilience.