Reference:

• The Union Cabinet has approved a Central Grant Assistance scheme of ₹2,000 crore to the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for four years, from 2025–26 to 2028–29.

Scheme Overview:

• Total Outlay: ₹2,000 crore (₹500 crore per year from 2025–26 to 2028–29)
• Objective: To provide low-cost loans to cooperative societies to enhance their capacity, promote modernization, diversification of activities, and boost employment generation.
• Target Beneficiaries: About 2.9 crore members of 13,288 cooperative societies across the country, 94% of whom are farmers. These cooperatives are active in areas like dairy, fisheries, sugar, textiles, food processing, cold storage, labor, and women-led cooperatives.
• Implementing Agency: NCDC, under the Ministry of Cooperation, will be responsible for loan disbursement, project implementation monitoring, and loan recovery.
• Financial Model: The ₹2,000 crore grant from the Government of India will serve as budgetary support, enabling NCDC to raise ₹20,000 crore from the open market.

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

• Establishment: 1963
• Statutory Body: Established under the National Cooperative Development Corporation Act, 1962
• Administrative Control: Ministry of Cooperation
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Regional Offices: 19
• (Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Gandhinagar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Shimla, Thiruvananthapuram, and Vijayawada)

Objectives:

To promote and finance the production, processing, marketing, storage, export, and import of agricultural produce, foodstuffs, industrial goods, livestock, and other notified commodities based on cooperative principles.

Major Functions:

• Financing: Providing concessional loans and grants to cooperative societies.
• Capacity Building: Offering training and technical assistance to cooperatives.
• Project Implementation: Supporting infrastructure development in the cooperative sector, such as warehouses, cold storages, and processing units.
• Sectors Covered: Dairy, fisheries, sugar, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, handlooms, labor cooperatives, and women-led cooperatives.

Governance:

• General Council: A 51-member council chaired by the Union Minister of Cooperation.
• Board of Management: A 12-member board chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation.