Amit Shah orders 25-year roadmap for NCDC; lending tops Rs 4.14 lakh crore

Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah chaired the 93rd General Council meeting of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) in New Delhi on Thursday, October 29, 2026, and directed the corporation to prepare a 25-year roadmap focused on institutional reforms, financial autonomy and professional management. The meeting was told that NCDC has disbursed a cumulative Rs 4,14,586 crore to cooperative institutions from the creation of the Ministry of Cooperation in 2021 up to October 25, 2026. Shah stressed the need to rapidly increase disbursements and set a target of making the Northeast self-reliant in animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries by 2030.

The National Cooperative Development Corporation is a government-backed lender to cooperatives, funding societies in areas such as farming, dairy, fisheries and processing. Cooperatives are owned by their members, often small farmers, and they give those members collective bargaining power, access to credit and a share in profits. When NCDC lends more, more cooperatives can build warehouses, processing units and dairies, which raises rural incomes.

The cumulative figure of over Rs 4.14 lakh crore since 2021 shows how much the corporation's lending has grown since the separate Ministry of Cooperation was created. Asking for a 25-year roadmap with a focus on financial autonomy and alternative ways to raise capital suggests the government wants NCDC to fund much larger activity in future without relying only on budget support.

The proposed expert group is the first concrete step. Made up of cooperative representatives and experts, it is to examine how NCDC is organised today, whether it can raise capital in other ways, how much financial independence it should have and which new businesses it could finance. Its findings are expected to feed into the 25-year roadmap.

The Northeast target is specific. Animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries are important livelihoods in the region. Making the region self-reliant by 2030 is likely to mean building cooperatives for milk collection, chilling, processing and fish farming, all areas where NCDC finance is central.

For farmers and rural entrepreneurs, the practical point is that cooperative societies, including the primary agricultural credit societies in villages, can turn to NCDC for project loans, and the government wants that lending to grow faster.

Short-term: NCDC will begin work on the 25-year roadmap and the proposed expert group will review its structure and funding options. Cooperatives can expect a push for faster loan disbursement.

Long-term: Greater financial autonomy could let NCDC raise money from markets and lend more to cooperatives across sectors, supporting the government's wider plan to expand the cooperative movement. In the Northeast, new dairy and fisheries cooperatives would be central to the 2030 target.

Who is affected: Members of cooperative societies, especially small farmers, dairy producers and fishers; cooperative managers; state cooperative departments; and rural consumers in the Northeast.

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