Shah Announces Plan to Set Up Co-op Banks in All Cities With Over 2 Lakh Residents in 5 Years
Union Minister Amit Shah unveils roadmap to strengthen the urban cooperative credit sector and boost digital adoption under the ‘Delhi Declaration 2025’.
New Delhi, Nov 11 — Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced that every city in India with a population exceeding two lakh will have a cooperative bank within the next five years. Speaking at the Co-Op Kumbh 2025, an international conference on the urban cooperative credit sector, Shah said the government is focused on expanding and modernising the cooperative ecosystem to drive inclusive economic growth.
Highlighting the achievements of the sector, Shah said, “In the past two years, we have succeeded in reducing NPAs (non-performing assets) from 2.8% to 0.6%.” He emphasised that the upcoming ‘Delhi Declaration 2025’ will serve as a comprehensive roadmap for strengthening cooperative credit institutions across the country.
The minister urged cooperative lenders to embrace digital technologies, including platforms like ‘Sahkar Digi-Pay’ and ‘Sahkar Digi-Loan’, which aim to integrate the cooperative sector into India’s digital finance revolution.
Shah underlined that cooperatives are key to ensuring equitable growth, saying that progress cannot be measured by GDP figures alone but by the improvement in citizens’ livelihoods. He also called on states to work with the Centre to develop a unified policy approach for the cooperative movement.
Created in 2021, the Ministry of Cooperation headed by Shah has implemented several reforms to digitise and expand cooperative operations. The passage of the Multi State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2022, further strengthened governance and accountability within the sector.
