Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Thursday, October 29, chaired the 93rd General Council meeting of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) in New Delhi and directed the corporation to draw up a comprehensive roadmap for the next 25 years, covering its expansion and operational framework, Nation Press reported. ANI provided live coverage of the meeting.

Source: Nation Press

Posting on X in Hindi after the meeting, Shah described NCDC's expansion to every state and Union Territory as a 'very significant achievement', saying its benefits are now reaching small farmers, livestock owners, fisherfolk and rural women, according to the report.

93rdNCDC General Council meeting chaired by Shah
25 yearsSpan of the roadmap NCDC was asked to prepare
2030Target for Northeast self-reliance through cooperatives
1963Year NCDC was established

Northeast self-reliance by 2030

Shah set a specific target of making Northeast India self-reliant through cooperatives by 2030. The report said the push is aimed at bringing the eight northeastern states' agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and handicrafts — much of which still sits outside formal cooperative structures — into the cooperative economy, reducing dependence on central transfers.

Circular economy for cooperative sugar mills

The minister also tasked NCDC with improving the viability of cooperative sugar mills through circular-economy practices — monetising by-products such as bagasse for power generation, molasses for ethanol production and press-mud for organic fertiliser, so mills earn across multiple value chains instead of relying on sugar sales alone, the report said.

NCDC, established in 1963, is the primary financing and development agency for India's cooperative sector, covering agriculture, dairy, fisheries and rural processing. It works under the Ministry of Cooperation, created in July 2021 as India's first dedicated ministry for the sector, which Shah has headed since its inception.

The directives give NCDC two measurable markers — a 25-year institutional roadmap and a 2030 Northeast deadline — and their impact will depend on how quickly they are translated into funded programmes, the report noted.

Source: ANI live coverage