The National Cooperative Database (NCD) has documented more than 8.5 lakh cooperatives in India, with around 6.6 lakh currently operational. These cooperatives span nearly 98% of rural India and cater to approximately 32 crore members across 30 sectors, connecting various groups like milk producers, artisans, fishers, traders, and workers to markets. Additionally, they have integrated nearly 10 crore women from women-led Self Help Groups (SHGs) into the cooperative network.
Official sources highlight the significance of entities like Amul, NABARD, KRIBHCO, and IFFCO, among others, along with numerous local societies and cooperatives, as integral components of India’s economic structure. The government has sanctioned a Rs 2,925.39 crore initiative to computerize functional Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and link them through a common Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-based national software platform. Each PACS will receive necessary hardware support, including a computer, webcam, VPN, printer, and biometric device under this project.
As part of the scheme, 59,261 PACS are actively utilizing ERP software, surpassing the previous count of 47,155 PACS as of January 2, 2025. Hardware support has been extended to 65,151 PACS, covering approximately 82% of the expanded target of 79,630 PACS. Online audits have been finalized in 42,730 PACS, with 32,119 PACS enabled as e-PACS, and a total of 34.94 crore transactions processed through 22 ERP modules, available in 14 languages.
The National Cooperative Database reports the registration of 32,009 new PACS, dairy, and fishery cooperatives. Presently, PACS are operational in 2,55,881 Gram Panchayats (GPs), dairy cooperatives in 87,159 GPs, and fisheries cooperatives in 29,964 GPs nationwide. Furthermore, PACS have been linked with various central government schemes, expanding their role as local service delivery hubs within villages.
A notable development is the transformation of 38,190 PACS into Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (PMKSKs) to provide agricultural inputs, while 51,836 PACS now function as Common Service Centres (CSCs) offering over 300 e-services, as per the available data.
