Ministry
Ministry of Cooperation
The Ministry of Cooperation is the Union government department created on 6 July 2021 to give India's cooperative movement a dedicated administrative, legal and policy framework, a mandate previously carried inside the Ministry of Agriculture. It is the seat of power for the country's roughly 8.4 lakh registered cooperative societies and their nearly 30 crore members, and it owns the flagship "Sahkar se Samriddhi" (prosperity through cooperation) agenda, the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) computerisation drive, and the multi-state cooperative federations for exports, organics and seeds.
Updated
- Established
- 6 July 2021
- Predecessor
- Cooperation portfolio within the Ministry of Agriculture
- Vision
- Sahkar se Samriddhi (prosperity through cooperation)
- Cooperatives covered
- ~8.4 lakh registered societies, ~30 crore members
- Flagship policy
- National Cooperation Policy 2025 (2025-2045)
- PACS computerisation outlay
- Rs 2,925.39 crore (revised), 79,630 PACS
Role
The Ministry of Cooperation is the Union government’s dedicated department for the cooperative sector, created on 6 July 2021 out of a mandate that had previously sat inside the Ministry of Agriculture. Its stated purpose is to provide “a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country” and to realise the vision of “Sahkar se Samriddhi” — prosperity through cooperation. Because cooperation is a State subject under the Constitution, the Ministry works largely through central statutes (chiefly the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984), national-level federations, funding convergence and data infrastructure rather than by directly running state-registered societies.
In practice the Ministry is the seat of power over India’s roughly 8.4 lakh registered cooperatives and their nearly 30 crore members — a network reaching most of the country’s villages. It owns the PACS computerisation programme, the National Cooperative Database, the National Cooperation Policy 2025, three national multi-state cooperatives for exports, organics and seeds, the dairy-focused White Revolution 2.0, and the new Tribhuvan Sahkari University. Its budget, tax treatment of cooperatives and regulation of cooperative banks intersect with the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India; the portfolio has been held concurrently with the Ministry of Home Affairs since the Ministry’s creation.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
- reference
Cooperative Credit Societies Act enacted
Colonial-era statute that seeded India's formal cooperative credit movement, the ancestor of today's PACS network.
- reference
Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act
Parliament creates a central law and registrar for cooperatives operating across more than one state, the statute the Ministry now administers.
- reference
97th Constitutional Amendment inserts Part IXB
Adds a cooperative-societies chapter to the Constitution and makes forming cooperatives a constitutional right, while cooperation remains a State subject.
- reference
Ministry of Cooperation created
A separate Union ministry is carved out to give the cooperative sector its own administrative, legal and policy framework under the vision Sahkar se Samriddhi.
- reference
World's Largest Grain Storage Plan approved
Cabinet clears a PACS-anchored plan converging existing scheme funds to build decentralised godowns, coordinated by an inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Cooperation Minister.
- reference
Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023
Passed by the Rajya Sabha on 1 August 2023; creates a Cooperative Election Authority, a Cooperative Ombudsman and a rehabilitation fund for sick societies.
- reference
Tribhuvan Sahkari University Act, 2025
Parliament converts the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) into India's first national cooperative university; passed by the Lok Sabha on 26 March 2025 and the Rajya Sabha on 1 April 2025, it received presidential assent as Act No. 11 of 2025.
- official
National Cooperation Policy 2025 unveiled
A 20-year policy (2025-2045) with six strategic pillars replaces the 2002 policy and sets targets such as tripling the sector's GDP contribution by 2034.
- gdelt
Fifth Foundation Day
The Ministry marks five years, reporting tens of thousands of PACS digitalised on the common ERP platform and godowns completed under the grain-storage plan.
Frequently asked
- What is Ministry of Cooperation?
- The Ministry of Cooperation is the Union government department created on 6 July 2021 to give India's cooperative movement a dedicated administrative, legal and policy framework, a mandate previously carried inside the Ministry of Agriculture. It is the seat of power for the country's roughly 8.4 lakh registered cooperative societies and their nearly 30 crore members, and it owns the flagship "Sahkar se Samriddhi" (prosperity through cooperation) agenda, the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) computerisation drive, and the multi-state cooperative federations for exports, organics and seeds.
- When was Ministry of Cooperation established?
- Ministry of Cooperation was established 2021-07-06.
- What does Ministry of Cooperation do?
- Its remit covers Sahkar se Samriddhi: the whole-of-government agenda for strengthening cooperatives, Administration of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 (as amended in 2023), Registration and regulation of multi-state cooperative societies, PACS computerisation and conversion of PACS into multi-purpose rural hubs, Maintenance of the National Cooperative Database, Oversight of national-level cooperative federations for exports, organics and seeds, Dairy cooperative strengthening under White Revolution 2.0, Cooperative education and training via Tribhuvan Sahkari University.
- What is the latest on Ministry of Cooperation?
- As of 2026-07-06: Fifth Foundation Day. The Ministry marks five years, reporting tens of thousands of PACS digitalised on the common ERP platform and godowns completed under the grain-storage plan.