What did the NCDC Act 2002 amendment change?

The Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 was accompanied by a substantive amendment to the NCDC Act, 1962 that widened NCDC's mandate in two important directions. First, it expanded the notified list of activities beyond agri-produce to include services (cooperative hospitals, medical education, water conservation, rural sanitation, irrigation, animal-health services), rural handicrafts and other village-level industries. Second, it permitted NCDC to fund cooperatives directly — not only through state governments, as had been the practice — and to lend to national- and state-level cooperative federations. This unlocked direct term-loan and working-capital finance to primary cooperatives that met NCDC's audit and governance benchmarks, and set the stage for the flagship Yuva Sahakar, Nandini Sahakar and Ayushman Sahakar windows launched later.

Which cooperative sectors does NCDC finance?

NCDC's programme areas span roughly nine cooperative sectors. These are: (1) agri-produce marketing cooperatives — PACS and marketing federations such as NAFED and TRIFED; (2) dairy cooperatives on the Amul model — GCMMF and the state milk federations; (3) cooperative sugar mills — more than 110 cooperative sugar factories have been financed cumulatively; (4) fisheries cooperatives, including FISHCOPFED and state fed unions; (5) handloom, handicraft and khadi cooperatives; (6) cold-chain, warehousing and storage cooperatives; (7) consumer cooperatives — Kendriya Bhandar and the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF); (8) agro-processing cooperative units — rice mills, oil mills, cattle-feed plants and cotton ginning; and (9) cooperative hospitals, medical colleges and education institutions, added under the post-2002 mandate expansion.

How can a cooperative apply for NCDC finance?

A cooperative seeking NCDC finance follows a well-established path. First, the society must be duly registered with the state Registrar of Cooperative Societies (or, for multi-state cooperatives, under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002) and must have functional audited accounts. Second, it prepares a Detailed Project Report (DPR) covering technical feasibility, financial projections and cash-flow schedule. Third, the application is routed either through the state cooperation department (for state-guaranteed loans, where the state government stands as guarantor for onward disbursement to PACS or the state federation) or directly to the nearest NCDC Regional Directorate — the direct-funding route that became available post the 2002 amendment and requires audited financials for the preceding three years plus a board resolution authorising the borrowing. NCDC has 18 regional offices across India.

How large are NCDC's cumulative sanctions and recent disbursements?

Per NCDC annual reports and PIB releases, cumulative financial assistance sanctioned by NCDC since inception crossed ₹2.4 lakh crore by FY 2022–23. Annual disbursements have grown sharply in recent years — approximately ₹40,000 crore or more in FY 2022–23 per the same sources — with dairy, sugar and marketing cooperatives among the largest recipients. Recent flows have also been driven by the Ministry of Cooperation's PACS computerization scheme with a ₹2,516 crore outlay to migrate roughly 63,000 functional PACS onto a common ERP integrated with NABARD's Core Banking System, and by the ongoing formation of new multi-purpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives in gap villages. These figures are indicative and subject to revision in subsequent annual reports.

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) — Statutory Cooperative-Finance Corporation of the Ministry of Cooperation

The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)is India's statutory cooperative-finance corporation — established under the NCDC Act, 1962 and functional from 13 March 1963. Headquartered in New Delhi with 18 regional directorates across the country, NCDC plans and promotes programmes for cooperatives across the entire agri and rural-economy value chain: production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of notified commodities — agricultural produce, foodstuffs, industrial goods and livestock — and, after the 2002 amendment of the Act, also cooperative services such as hospitals, medical education, water conservation, rural handicrafts and other village industries. Since the creation of the new Ministry of Cooperation on 6 July 2021, NCDC has operated under that ministry. For the broader map of farmer-welfare programmes, see our India government schemes for farmers reference.

History and legal basis

NCDC traces back to the Committee on Cooperation set up by the Government of India in the late 1950s and to the recommendations of the All-India Rural Credit Survey. Parliament enacted the National Cooperative Development Corporation Act, 1962 (Act No. 26 of 1962), and the Corporation was brought into being from 13 March 1963. Under Section 9 of the Act, NCDC was empowered to plan and promote programmes for the production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, foodstuffs, industrial goods and livestock through cooperative societies, and to advance loans and grants for that purpose.

The 2002 amendmentto the NCDC Act was the most significant expansion of scope in the Corporation's history. It widened the notified list of activities beyond agricultural produce and foodstuffs to include cooperativeservices — cooperative hospitals, medical education, water conservation, irrigation, rural sanitation, insurance and animal-health services — and rural handicrafts. Equally important, it authorised NCDC to lend directly to cooperative societies, and to fund national- and state-level cooperative federations — a break from the pre-2002 practice of routing all loans through state governments. This direct-funding route now underpins the flagship Yuva Sahakar, Nandini Sahakar and Ayushman Sahakar windows.

Funding modes at a glance

State-routed term / working-capital loans: traditional pre-2002 mode — NCDC lends to state governments, which onward disburse to PACS and state cooperative federations against a state guarantee.
Direct term / working-capital loans: introduced by the 2002 amendment — NCDC lends directly to eligible cooperative societies that meet audit and governance benchmarks, subject to a board resolution and audited financials for the preceding three years.
Direct funding to national / state federations: large lines to NAFED, NCCF, TRIFED, GCMMF and state milk / sugar / fisheries / consumer federations for capex and working-capital.
Equity participation: NCDC subscribes to the equity of new-generation cooperatives to strengthen their capital base.
Subsidies and interest subventions: channels Government of India subsidies and reimburses interest under schemes such as Ayushman Sahakar (1%), Yuva Sahakar (2%, or 3% for women / SC / ST / PwD / NER / aspirational districts) and Nandini Sahakar (up to 10%).

Programme areas — the nine cooperative sectors

Agri-produce marketing cooperatives — PACS at the village level, District Central Cooperative Banks, State Cooperative Marketing Federations and national marketing federations such as NAFED and TRIFED. NCDC finances procurement operations, cold-chain and marketing yards.
Dairy cooperatives — the Amul three-tier model implemented through the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and analogous state milk federations. NCDC term-loans finance milk-chilling centres, processing plants, cattle-feed units and dairy value-addition capacity, complementing Rashtriya Gokul Mission and NDDB-led initiatives.
Sugar cooperatives — more than 110 cooperative sugar mills across Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Punjab have been financed cumulatively by NCDC for modernisation, ethanol integration and cogeneration capacity.
Fisheries cooperatives — FISHCOPFED and state fed unions, integrated with Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for pond construction, hatcheries, cage culture, cold-chain and post-harvest infrastructure.
Handloom, handicraft and khadi cooperatives— weaver and artisan cooperatives, brought under NCDC's mandate post-2002.
Cold-chain, warehousing and storage cooperatives — including cooperative warehousing federations and cluster-level cold storage; converges with the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
Consumer cooperatives— Kendriya Bhandar and the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF), which run retail outlets and take on Government of India price-stabilisation mandates for onion, potato, tomato and pulses.
Cooperative agro-processing units — rice mills, oil mills, cattle-feed plants, cotton ginning and pressing and other post-farm-gate value-addition capacity run by cooperatives.
Cooperative hospitals and education — added post the 2002 amendment; the Ayushman Sahakar window is the dedicated financing vehicle for this segment.

Flagship schemes operated by NCDC

Yuva Sahakar — Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme (2018)

Launched in November 2018 and funded from the Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF), Yuva Sahakar is NCDC's window to seed innovative cooperatives promoted by young cooperators. A cooperative society that has been in operation for at least a year can borrow up to ₹3 crore for a project of up to ₹5 crore, with a 2% interest subvention on the applicable NCDC lending rate. The subvention is enhanced to 3% for cooperatives promoted by women, SC / ST members, Persons with Disabilities, societies from the North-Eastern Region or from aspirational districts. A moratorium of up to two years is available on principal repayment.

Nandini Sahakar Scheme (2020)

Nandini Sahakar is NCDC's women-focused window, launched in 2020. It combines hand-holding — DPR preparation, feasibility studies and project formulation support — with a concessional term loan and interest subvention of up to 10% on eligible women-cooperative projects. Nandini Sahakar is designed to converge with Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, the Stand-Up India scheme, MSME cluster programmes and state women-cooperative missions so that a women-led cooperative can stack capital-cost and working-capital support.

Sahakar Mitra — Scheme on Internship Programme (2020)

Launched on 12 May 2020, Sahakar Mitra is a four-month paid internship for professional graduates in agri-business, cooperative management, agri-economics, dairy technology and related disciplines. Interns are attached to national- or state-level cooperative federations, primary cooperatives or district-level cooperative units. NCDC pays a stipend of ₹10,000 per month. The scheme builds a talent pipeline for the cooperative sector, parallel to the CBBO architecture on the FPO side under the 10,000 FPO scheme.

Ayushman Sahakar Scheme (2020)

Launched on 19 October 2020, Ayushman Sahakar is a dedicated ₹10,000 crore financing window for cooperative-run health infrastructure — hospitals, medical colleges, AYUSH facilities, health-services delivery, health-insurance cooperatives and diagnostic centres. Eligible projects receive concessional term loans with a 1% interest subvention for cooperatives run by women, and a moratorium of up to three yearson principal repayment depending on the construction period. The scheme deliberately builds on India's cooperative-hospital tradition and aligns with the wider Ayushman Bharat portfolio.

Governance and organisation

NCDC is governed by a General Council and a Board of Management constituted under the NCDC Act, 1962. The Union Minister for Cooperation is the ex-officio Chair of the General Council, which includes Union and state cooperation ministers, secretaries of concerned Union ministries, representatives of the Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, the national cooperative federations and cooperative societies. The Board of Management handles executive decisions and is chaired by the Union Cooperation Minister as well; the Managing Directoris the chief executive, appointed by the Government of India. Day-to-day operations run through NCDC's 18 Regional Directorates across states and Union Territories.

How a cooperative can apply for NCDC finance

Register the cooperative: obtain registration from the state Registrar of Cooperative Societies under the applicable state Cooperative Societies Act; multi-state cooperatives register under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002. Ensure the society has functional audited accounts, preferably for the preceding three years.
Prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR): covering technical feasibility, financial projections, cash-flow schedule, promoter contribution, means of finance and security offered. NCDC also accepts DPRs prepared with support from Nandini Sahakar hand-holding assistance for women cooperatives.
Board resolution: pass a resolution of the managing committee / board authorising the borrowing and nominating signatories.
Choose the application route:
- State-guaranteed route: route the application through the state cooperation department, which forwards it to NCDC with a state government guarantee for onward disbursement — typical for PACS and state federations.
- Direct-funding route (post-2002 amendment): apply directly to the nearest NCDC Regional Directorate; requires audited financials for the preceding three years, the board resolution and, where applicable, a credit-rating certificate.
Appraisal, sanction and disbursement: NCDC appraises the DPR, sanctions the loan, executes the loan agreement and disburses in tranches linked to physical and financial milestones. Interest-subvention benefits (Yuva Sahakar, Nandini Sahakar, Ayushman Sahakar) are reflected in the applicable rate at drawdown.

Cumulative sanctions and recent flows

Per NCDC annual reports and PIB releases, cumulative financial assistance sanctioned by NCDC since inception crossed ₹2.4 lakh crore by FY 2022–23, with annual disbursements in FY 2022–23 of the order of ₹40,000 croreor more. Dairy, sugar, marketing and cooperative-services segments are among the largest recipients. Recent flows have been further boosted by the Ministry of Cooperation's PACS computerization scheme — a ₹2,516 crore outlay to migrate roughly 63,000 functional PACSonto a common Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system integrated with NABARD's Core Banking Solution — and by the ongoing formation of new multi-purpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives in gap villages, a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Cooperation since 2021. All figures cited here are indicative and are subject to revision in subsequent annual reports.

Convergence with the wider farmer-welfare portfolio

NCDC finance rarely stands alone — it converges with several other Government of India programmes and refinance agencies to deliver end-to-end capital to a cooperative:

Ministry of Cooperation(created 6 July 2021, separated from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare): the parent ministry; drives the PACS computerization, new-PACS formation and multi-state cooperative reform agenda.
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW): the historical parent up to 2021; continues to converge on production, marketing and MSP operations executed through NAFED.
NABARD:refinance partner for cooperative banks and PACS; NABARD's Core Banking Solution is the plumbing for the PACS-computerization programme that NCDC-supported PACS are migrating onto.
Department of Financial Services (Ministry of Finance): policy and prudential regulation of cooperative banks.
State cooperation departments and Registrars: the gate-keepers for cooperative registration, audit and the state-guaranteed lending route.
10,000 FPO scheme: NCDC is one of the three lead Implementing Agencies (with NABARD and SFAC) for the CBBO-anchored FPO handholding architecture; FPOs registered as cooperatives are natural NCDC borrowers.

Related schemes

10,000 FPO Scheme

NCDC is a lead Implementing Agency for FPOs registered as cooperatives.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF)

3% interest subvention on post-harvest capex, stackable with NCDC term loans for cooperatives.

NABARD

Refinance apex for cooperative banks; PACS core-banking plumbing.

RIDF

Rural Infrastructure Development Fund at NABARD funds state cooperative infrastructure.

PMFME

35% credit-linked subsidy for micro food-processing units by cooperatives.

PMMSY

Fisheries scheme — FISHCOPFED and state fed unions plug into NCDC finance.

Rashtriya Gokul Mission

Dairy cooperatives (state milk federations) are core NCDC borrowers.

All schemes

Browse the full farmer-welfare portfolio index.

References

National Cooperative Development Corporation (ncdconline.gov.in) — NCDC Act, 1962 and 2002 amendment; scheme guidelines for Yuva Sahakar, Nandini Sahakar, Sahakar Mitra and Ayushman Sahakar; annual reports and Regional Directorate contacts.
Ministry of Cooperation (cooperation.gov.in) — PACS computerization scheme (₹2,516 crore outlay), new-PACS formation guidelines and Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act updates.
Press Information Bureau (PIB) — PIB Delhi, 19 October 2020: Ayushman Sahakar Scheme launch; PIB Delhi, 12 May 2020: Sahakar Mitra internship launch; periodic PIB releases on NCDC annual sanctions and disbursements.
NABARD (nabard.org) — refinance circulars for cooperative banks, PACS Core Banking Solution rollout and RIDF operational guidelines.
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (agriwelfare.gov.in) — historical parent-ministry documents up to 2021 and the 10,000 FPO scheme operational guidelines that name NCDC as one of the lead Implementing Agencies.

Frequently asked questions

What is the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)?: The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is a statutory corporation of the Government of India, established under the National Cooperative Development Corporation Act, 1962 and functional from 13 March 1963 with its headquarters in New Delhi. Under Section 9 of the Act, NCDC is empowered to plan and promote programmes for the production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of notified commodities — agricultural produce, foodstuffs, industrial goods, livestock, and certain services — through cooperative societies. Since the Ministry of Cooperation was carved out on 6 July 2021, NCDC operates under that ministry (having earlier been administered by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).
What did the NCDC Act 2002 amendment change?: The Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 was accompanied by a substantive amendment to the NCDC Act, 1962 that widened NCDC's mandate in two important directions. First, it expanded the notified list of activities beyond agri-produce to include services (cooperative hospitals, medical education, water conservation, rural sanitation, irrigation, animal-health services), rural handicrafts and other village-level industries. Second, it permitted NCDC to fund cooperatives directly — not only through state governments, as had been the practice — and to lend to national- and state-level cooperative federations. This unlocked direct term-loan and working-capital finance to primary cooperatives that met NCDC's audit and governance benchmarks, and set the stage for the flagship Yuva Sahakar, Nandini Sahakar and Ayushman Sahakar windows launched later.
How does NCDC lend — what are its funding modes?: NCDC deploys capital through a mix of instruments calibrated to the borrower. It provides term loans and working-capital loans routed through state governments (for onward disbursement to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies — PACS — and state cooperative federations); direct term loans and working-capital loans to eligible cooperative societies (post the 2002 amendment); direct funding to national- and state-level cooperative federations such as NAFED, NCCF, TRIFED and the state milk / sugar / fisheries federations; equity participation in cooperative businesses; and subsidies and interest subventions channelled from Government of India schemes routed through NCDC (for example, the Ayushman Sahakar 1% interest subvention). Concessional lines are provided under Yuva Sahakar and Nandini Sahakar with a 2–10% interest subvention.
Which cooperative sectors does NCDC finance?: NCDC's programme areas span roughly nine cooperative sectors. These are: (1) agri-produce marketing cooperatives — PACS and marketing federations such as NAFED and TRIFED; (2) dairy cooperatives on the Amul model — GCMMF and the state milk federations; (3) cooperative sugar mills — more than 110 cooperative sugar factories have been financed cumulatively; (4) fisheries cooperatives, including FISHCOPFED and state fed unions; (5) handloom, handicraft and khadi cooperatives; (6) cold-chain, warehousing and storage cooperatives; (7) consumer cooperatives — Kendriya Bhandar and the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF); (8) agro-processing cooperative units — rice mills, oil mills, cattle-feed plants and cotton ginning; and (9) cooperative hospitals, medical colleges and education institutions, added under the post-2002 mandate expansion.
What is the Yuva Sahakar Scheme?: The Yuva Sahakar — Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme was launched by NCDC in November 2018 to encourage young cooperators to start new, innovative cooperative businesses. Under the scheme, a cooperative society that has been in operation for at least one year and includes young members can obtain a loan of up to ₹3 crore for a project of up to ₹5 crore, with a 2% interest subvention on the applicable NCDC lending rate — enhanced to 3% for cooperatives promoted by women, SC / ST, Persons with Disabilities, from the North-Eastern Region or from aspirational districts. A moratorium of up to two years is available on principal repayment. Yuva Sahakar is funded from the Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF) corpus set up by NCDC.
What is the Nandini Sahakar Scheme?: Nandini Sahakar is NCDC's women-focused cooperative financing window, launched in 2020 to complement the broader Yuva Sahakar architecture. It combines hand-holding — including project formulation support, feasibility studies and Detailed Project Report (DPR) preparation — with a concessional term loan and an interest subvention of up to 10% on eligible women-cooperative projects. Nandini Sahakar is designed to converge with Mudra loans, the Stand-Up India scheme, MSME cluster programmes and state-level women-cooperative missions, so that a single women-led cooperative can stack capital-cost support and working-capital access. The intent is to bring more women cooperators into agri-processing, dairy, handloom, handicrafts and rural service-sector cooperatives.
What is the Ayushman Sahakar Scheme?: Ayushman Sahakar was launched by NCDC on 19 October 2020 to catalyse cooperative-run health infrastructure across India. Under the scheme, NCDC has earmarked a ₹10,000 crore lending window for cooperatives — including cooperative hospitals, medical colleges, ayurveda / yoga / naturopathy / unani / siddha / homoeopathy (AYUSH) facilities, health-services delivery, health-insurance cooperatives and diagnostic centres. Eligible projects receive concessional term loans with an interest subvention of 1% for cooperatives run by women, and a moratorium of up to three years on principal repayment depending on the project's construction period. The scheme deliberately builds on India's cooperative-hospital tradition — the Kerala model of cooperative medical colleges is a reference point — and aligns with Ayushman Bharat.
What is the Sahakar Mitra internship?: Sahakar Mitra — Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP) was launched by NCDC on 12 May 2020 as a four-month paid internship for professional graduates in agri-business, agri-cooperation, agri-economics, cooperative management, agri-marketing, dairy and food technology, and related disciplines. Interns are attached to national- or state-level cooperative federations, primary cooperatives or district-level cooperative units, where they gain first-hand exposure to cooperative business planning, financial appraisal and marketing. A stipend of ₹10,000 per month is paid by NCDC for two months, with an additional performance-linked payout for the balance period. The scheme is a talent pipeline for the cooperative sector alongside the FPO-side CBBO empanelment under the 10,000 FPO programme.
How can a cooperative apply for NCDC finance?: A cooperative seeking NCDC finance follows a well-established path. First, the society must be duly registered with the state Registrar of Cooperative Societies (or, for multi-state cooperatives, under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002) and must have functional audited accounts. Second, it prepares a Detailed Project Report (DPR) covering technical feasibility, financial projections and cash-flow schedule. Third, the application is routed either through the state cooperation department (for state-guaranteed loans, where the state government stands as guarantor for onward disbursement to PACS or the state federation) or directly to the nearest NCDC Regional Directorate — the direct-funding route that became available post the 2002 amendment and requires audited financials for the preceding three years plus a board resolution authorising the borrowing. NCDC has 18 regional offices across India.
How large are NCDC's cumulative sanctions and recent disbursements?: Per NCDC annual reports and PIB releases, cumulative financial assistance sanctioned by NCDC since inception crossed ₹2.4 lakh crore by FY 2022–23. Annual disbursements have grown sharply in recent years — approximately ₹40,000 crore or more in FY 2022–23 per the same sources — with dairy, sugar and marketing cooperatives among the largest recipients. Recent flows have also been driven by the Ministry of Cooperation's PACS computerization scheme with a ₹2,516 crore outlay to migrate roughly 63,000 functional PACS onto a common ERP integrated with NABARD's Core Banking System, and by the ongoing formation of new multi-purpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives in gap villages. These figures are indicative and subject to revision in subsequent annual reports.

NCDC scheme parameters, subvention rates, cumulative sanctions and PACS-computerization outlay above summarise publicly available material on ncdconline.gov.in, cooperation.gov.in, PIB releases and NCDC annual reports. Rates, ceilings and scheme windows are periodically revised; prospective borrowers should verify current terms with the nearest NCDC Regional Directorate before applying.