India Expands Rural Economy with 10,000 New Cooperative Societies
On June 11, 2026, India's Union Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, inaugurated more than 10,000 new multipurpose cooperative societies, including dairy and fisheries cooperatives, in New Delhi. This initiative aims to stimulate rural economic growth by enhancing agribusiness and promoting financial inclusion across the nation's rural panchayats.
The newly formed cooperatives have been provided with digital banking tools such as RuPay Kisan Credit Cards and micro-ATMs, which are intended to facilitate seamless access to credit and banking services for smallholders and village producers. This move is part of a broader modernization campaign that includes equipping every primary village dairy cooperative with a micro-ATM to improve daily financial transactions related to milk payouts.
The establishment of these Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) aims to integrate fragmented rural supply chains and support community-led capital development. The updated bylaws allow these societies to engage in 32 different commercial activities, expanding their role from traditional credit distribution to include grain storage, cold chain logistics, and fertilizer distribution.
The Ministry of Cooperation has integrated these cooperatives with the National Cooperative Database, a digital tool mapping information from around eight lakh cooperatives with over 29 crore members. This database provides real-time analytics on financial statements, audit status, and asset distribution, enhancing transparency and efficiency within the cooperative sector.
The Indian government plans to establish a cooperative institution in every panchayat within the next five years, targeting the creation of 2 lakh new societies. Agencies like the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and NABARD are involved in capacity-building programs to support this expansion. Once fully operational, this network is expected to facilitate the integration of smallholder production into global supply chains.
