The government has framed the National Cooperation Policy 2025 to revitalise cooperatives by making them technology-driven, professionally managed and globally competitive. This is in the backdrop of today’s cooperative sector forming a vital pillar of India’s rural economic fabric.

The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has disbursed ₹49,799.06 crore (₹49.799 thousand crore) in the current financial year (2025-26) up to October, according to a press release by the Press Information Bureau on Wednesday. This marks a strong mid-year achievement and underlines the government’s push to strengthen the cooperative ecosphere across agriculture, allied and non-farm sectors.

In the previous financial year (2024-25), NCDC disbursed ₹95,182.88 crore, showing a steep rise from ₹5,735.51 crore in 2014-15. With nearly half of the previous year’s total already disbursed by October, it signals sustained acceleration in credit flows to cooperatives.

An official said that the upward trend reflects both increased demand from cooperative societies for financing and an enhanced institutional capacity of NCDC to deliver timely assistance. The corporation’s remit includes financing farmer cooperatives for production, processing, storage, marketing and allied inputs; and expanding to non-farm segments such as dairy, fisheries, handloom, sericulture and weaker-section cooperatives.

Thrust on Inclusion

NCDC’s disbursement strategy is not only about volume but also inclusivity. Over FY2021-22 to FY2024-25, the corporation extended ₹57.78 crore in loans to SC/ST-cooperatives. Moreover, between FY2021-22 and FY2024-25, women-led cooperatives received ₹4,823.68 crore, while infrastructure support to women cooperatives during 2022-25 amounted to ₹2.37 crore.

In the sugar sector, as of March 2025, NCDC has provided cumulative financial assistance of ₹33,311.79 crore to cooperative sugar mills across India.

These targeted interventions reflect a broader policy emphasis on empowerment of socially disadvantaged groups and sector-specific value chains.

Strategic Schemes Powering Cooperatives

NCDC is deploying several specialised schemes to support innovation, digitalisation and sectoral upgrading in the cooperative ecosystem:

• Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support & Innovation Scheme (launched FY2019-20) supports newly-formed cooperative societies, especially in North-Eastern regions, aspirational districts, or with women/SC/ST/PwD membership.
• Ayushman Sahakar (started FY2020-21) enables cooperative societies to set up or expand AYUSH/health/education services.
• Dairy Sahakar (from FY2021-22) supports end-to-end dairy value chains — procurement, processing, packaging, branding, export readiness.
• Digital Sahakar (operational since FY2021-22) aims at digitally empowering cooperatives, including FPOs and SHG federations.
• Deerghavadhi Krishak Punji Sahakar Yojana (launched 2022-23) provides long-term finance to agricultural credit cooperatives such as PACS, DCCBs, StCBs.

The official explained that these schemes demonstrate NCDC’s shift from traditional credit delivery to value-chain enhancement, digital adaptation and inclusivity.

Policy Context and Future Pipeline

The government has framed the National Cooperation Policy 2025 to revitalise cooperatives by making them technology-driven, professionally managed and globally competitive. This is in the backdrop of today’s cooperative sector forming a vital pillar of India’s rural economic fabric. With over 8.44 lakh cooperative societies and a membership exceeding 30 crore, nearly 94 per cent of farmers are linked with cooperatives in some capacity.

Cabinet approval has been given for a Central Sector “Grant-in-Aid to NCDC” scheme with outlay of ₹2,000 crore for 2025-26 to 2028-29 (₹500 crore annually) to enable mobilising about ₹20,000 crore from open markets over four years.

For the current year, the nearly ₹50,000 crore disbursement till October positions NCDC to meet and possibly exceed last year’s pace – provided demand sustains, structural bottlenecks are addressed and timely project execution continues.

Yet, while the numbers point to robust growth, key challenges remain. Ensuring that credit translates into efficient project implementation by cooperatives is critical Many cooperatives which face governance, technical and market-linkage constraints. Additionally, expansion beyond volume into equitable geographic spread, value-chain deepening and exit readiness for cooperatives will determine long-term impact.

Officials say that as the NCDC advances into the remainder of 2025-26, the focus needs to be on converting quantum of disbursements into measurable outcomes: enhanced productivity, value-addition, employment generation and stronger livelihoods for rural communities.