The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a ₹2,000 crore grant-in-aid to the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) under a Central Sector Scheme. The financial support will be disbursed over four years from FY 2025–26 to FY 2028–29, with ₹500 crore allocated annually.
The grant will enable NCDC to mobilize up to ₹20,000 crore from the open market, which will be used to provide loans to cooperative societies for new projects, plant expansion, modernization, and working capital needs. The scheme is expected to benefit 2.9 crore members across 13,288 cooperatives in sectors such as dairy, livestock, fisheries, sugar, textiles, food processing, and women-led enterprises.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that the initiative aims to strengthen the cooperative ecosystem, enhance productivity, and generate employment, particularly in rural areas. NCDC, which maintains a 99.8% loan recovery rate, will serve as the executing agency, overseeing disbursement, monitoring, and loan recovery.
The Cabinet emphasized that the move will not only provide liquidity and income-generating assets to cooperatives but also promote socio-economic inclusion and increase women’s participation in the workforce.