The Ministry of Cooperation, under Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, completed a landmark year in 2025, advancing the government’s vision of “Sahkar se Samriddhi” — prosperity through cooperation. Established in July 2021 to strengthen India’s cooperative sector, the ministry has, over the past four-and-a-half years, implemented 114 initiatives aimed at strengthening grassroots institutions, modernising Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), launching new national-level cooperative societies, providing regulatory and tax relief, and introducing digital and technological reforms.
The ministry’s year-ender report highlights progress across multiple fronts: economic strengthening of PACS, expansion of services, creation of national multi-state societies, tax reforms, revival of cooperative sugar mills, banking sector support, digital transformation, cooperative education and training, and institutional capacity building. These reforms are designed to make India’s cooperative sector financially viable, technologically enabled, and service-oriented, reaching the village level and promoting inclusive growth.
Strengthening PACS: From Credit Units to Multi-Purpose Hubs
A major focus in 2025 was making PACS multi-purpose, financially sustainable, and digitally empowered. In January 2023, the Centre finalised Model Bye-Laws for Multi-Purpose PACS after consultations with states, cooperative federations, and stakeholders. These bye-laws allow PACS to diversify into more than 25 sectors including dairy, fisheries, storage, and agricultural input supply. By the end of 2025, 32 states and Union Territories had adopted or aligned their PACS bye-laws with the new framework.
Computerisation of PACS has emerged as one of the largest digitisation initiatives in the cooperative sector. Originally approved for 63,000 PACS with an outlay of ₹2,516 crore, the scheme was expanded to cover 79,630 PACS with a revised outlay of ₹2,925.39 crore, jointly funded by the Centre, states, and NABARD. By December 2025, 59,261 PACS were actively using ERP software, up from 47,155 in January. Hardware has been supplied to 65,151 PACS (82% coverage), and 32,119 PACS have achieved e-PACS status, far exceeding the initial target of 10,000 during Seva Parv in October 2025. Over 34.94 crore transactions have been processed through the software, which is available in 14 languages, with eight more under development. Online audits have been completed for 42,730 PACS.
The ministry has also focused on creating multipurpose PACS, dairy, and fisheries societies in every panchayat. Approved in February 2023, this plan aims to cover all panchayats and villages within five years through convergence of existing schemes. A Standard Operating Procedure was launched in September 2024, and 32,009 new cooperative societies have been registered in the National Cooperative Database.
Expanding PACS into Services, Storage, and Energy
PACS have been integrated into national schemes to generate additional revenue. Under the world’s largest decentralised grain storage programme, launched as a pilot in May 2023, 112 PACS have godowns with a total capacity of 68,702 metric tonnes, and the programme has now been expanded to all types of cooperative societies.
Following a February 2023 MoU, PACS were also designated as Common Service Centres to deliver over 300 e-services. By the end of 2025, 51,836 PACS were providing CSC services, completing transactions worth over ₹60 crore. In the agriculture value chain, PACS have been instrumental in forming Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). Of 1,863 FPOs formed in 2025, 1,117 were promoted through PACS, and ₹206 crore was disbursed.
Diversification into energy was another focus area. PACS have been made eligible for LPG distributorships, conversion of bulk consumer petrol pumps into retail outlets (59 commissioned), and priority allotment for new petrol and diesel dealerships (10 operational). In healthcare and agricultural inputs, 812 PACS are ready to operate as Jan Aushadhi Kendras, and 38,190 PACS were upgraded as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendras.
Pilot initiatives such as Bank Mitra services and RuPay KCCs, first launched in Gujarat, were expanded statewide under the “Cooperation among Cooperatives” model. Over 22 lakh KCCs were issued, with ₹10,000 crore in loans disbursed, and a national rollout is planned. PACS have also been identified as Paani Samitis in 10 states to manage rural piped water schemes, and discussions are ongoing to integrate PACS with the PM-KUSUM decentralised solar project. In fisheries, 1,070 Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FFPOs) were formed, 2,348 strengthened, and ₹98 crore disbursed.
New National Cooperative Institutions
A major development in 2025 was the establishment of three national-level multi-state cooperative societies. National Cooperative Exports Ltd (NCEL) has 13,890 member PACS and exported 13.77 lakh metric tonnes of agricultural commodities worth ₹5,556.24 crore, declaring a 20% dividend for 2023–24. Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Ltd (BBSSL) launched the ‘Bharat Beej’ brand with 31,605 member cooperatives. National Cooperative Organics Ltd (NCOL) launched ‘Bharat Organics,’ offering 28 certified organic products in Delhi-NCR, with batch testing conducted for over 245 pesticides, and 10,035 members enrolled.
Tax Relief and Regulatory Reforms
The Ministry of Cooperation implemented multiple tax and compliance measures for cooperatives. Surcharge on societies with ₹1–10 crore income was reduced from 12% to 7%, while the Minimum Alternate Tax was lowered to 15%. Clarifications were issued on cash transaction limits under Section 269ST, and a 15% flat tax was extended to new manufacturing cooperatives commencing by March 31, 2024. Cash deposit and payment limits for PACS and PCARDBs were raised to ₹2 lakh per member, TDS-free cash withdrawal limits to ₹3 crore, and TCS on sale of goods was made ineffective from April 2025.
Revival of Cooperative Sugar Mills
Cooperative sugar mills benefited from income-tax relief for higher sugarcane payments, ₹46,000 crore relief for pre-2016 dues, and a ₹10,000 crore loan scheme via the National Cooperative Development Corporation, with ₹10,005 crore sanctioned. Mills achieved parity with private sector players in ethanol procurement, and GST on molasses was reduced from 28% to 5%.
Relief for Cooperative Banks
RBI issued multiple relaxations for cooperative banks, including doorstep banking, easier branch expansion, reduction of priority sector lending targets from 75% to 60%, higher housing loan limits (up to ₹75 lakh), gold loan ceiling doubled, approval of umbrella organisations, extended provisioning timelines, one-time settlement permissions, and inclusion under CGTMSE.
Expanding NCDC, Training, and Digital Governance
The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) expanded its operations through a ₹2,000 crore grant-in-aid scheme for 2025–29, of which ₹375 crore was disbursed in 2025. Loan disbursement grew 60% in 2024–25 to ₹95,183 crore, with ₹95,000 crore disbursed in 2025–26. New sectoral schemes were launched, including financing for fisheries and deep-sea trawlers. The ‘Sahkar Taxi’ app trial registered over 1.5 lakh drivers and 2 lakh customers.
On the digital front, 721 cooperatives were onboarded as buyers on the GeM portal, completing 3,285 transactions worth ₹396.77 crore. A 48-member committee under Suresh Prabhu held 17 meetings to draft the new National Cooperation Policy, expected soon. The National Cooperative Database now maps 8.4 lakh cooperatives with over 32 crore members, and a ranking framework was launched in January 2025.
Capacity-building initiatives continued through the National Cooperative Training Council (NCCT), which conducted 4,389 programmes reaching 3.15 lakh participants in 2024–25, and 2,889 programmes for 1.76 lakh participants between April and November 2025. Plans for a National Cooperative University are also underway.
Implementation and Oversight
The ministry attributes rapid execution to regular reviews at national, state (86 SCDC meetings) and district levels (2,735 DCDC meetings), along with direct oversight from the minister and secretary.
By the end of 2025, India’s cooperative sector stands more digitised, diversified, and financially robust, moving closer to the government’s vision of “Sahkar se Samriddhi.”
