Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah addressed 89th General Council meeting of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) in New Delhi today. During his address, Shah advocated for NCDC to establish ambitious goals, aiming to achieve a disbursement of Rs. 1 lakh crore annually over the next three years, with quarterly milestones.
Amit Shah said that NCDC has disbursed financial assistance of more than Rs. 41,000 crore in the Financial Year 2022-23 across the country including rural areas. NCDC is set to achieve 10 times growth in disbursement of financial assistance in the current financial year from Rs. 5,300 crore in 2013-14. Shah said that with such an impressive performance, he is confident that the NCDC will be able to achieve the target of Rs. 50,000 crore kept for 2023-2024. He added that it is a matter of pride that net NPA of the Corporation is maintained at ‘Zero’ with loan recovery rate being over 99% for 2022-23.
Shah highlighted that since its formation the Ministry of Cooperation has taken 54 initiatives in the last 27 months to strengthen cooperative movement in the country and increase cooperatives’ share in GDP. These initiatives include computerization of PACS, the introduction of model byelaws, diversifying PACS functions to cover over 30 business activities.
Union Minister of Cooperation suggested that NCDC should explore avenues for borrowing on lower rates and lend to cooperative sector keeping the interest rate low. NCDC’s objective must not only to make profit but to achieve overall development of cooperative sector.
Amit Shah lauded the role of the NCDC in helping cooperative development in the country. He said there are more than 8.00 lakh cooperatives in the country with 29 crores farmers as their members. From agricultural marketing and inputs to processing, storage and cold chain the ambit of NCDC has widened to include areas in keeping with the needs of the society and boost income of youth in the country.
