Lok Sabha Question No. 456 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-04
Subject: Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: Shri Dushyant Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 456 TO BE ANSWERED ON  04 th  FEBRUARY, 2025

## Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)

## 456 Shri Dushyant Singh

Will the Minister of Cooperation ( सहकारिता मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the details regarding National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) and the National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) and the initiatives undertaken by these organisations to promote cooperatives across the country;
- (b) whether the Union Government aims to establish viable cooperatives in Panchayats, particularly focusing on sectors such as dairy and fishery cooperatives and the steps being taken to support their formation and growth, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  taken  steps  to  digitize  Primary  Agricultural  Credit Societies (PACS) by linking them with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software and the manner in which these measures aim to improve efficiency and transparency within PACS, if so, the details thereof, and
- (d) the total number of PACS onboarded onto the ERP software till date, along with the details  of  the  regions  or  States  where  implementation  of  PACS  have  been  most successful?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION सहकारिता मंत्री (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

(a) : With the approval of the Union Cabinet, the Ministry of Cooperation has set up three new national-level cooperative societies under MSCS Act 2002:

- a) National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL),
- b) National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL),
- c) Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL). The  cooperatives  of  all  levels,  who  are  interested  in  activities  specified  for  each  of  above societies. The details are as under:
1. National Co-operative Exports Limited (NCEL): The NCEL has been promoted by Indian Farmers  Fertilizer  Cooperative  Limited  (IFFCO),  Krishak  Bharati  Cooperative  Limited (KRIBHCO),  National  Agricultural  Cooperative,  Marketing  Federation  of  India  Limited (NAFED), Gujarat   Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) to undertake export of surpluses of goods and

services  of  cooperatives  and  related  entities  including  promotional  activities.  So  far  8,863 cooperatives have become members of NCEL.

## Initiatives undertaken by NCEL to promote cooperatives across the country:

- i. NCEL has exported 10,42,297.81 MT of 36 agricultural commodities worth Rs. 4,121 crores during the Financial Year 2024-25.
- ii. NCEL has earned a Net Profit of Rs. 26.40 crore and distributed dividends at the rate of 20% on the paid-up share capital to its member cooperative societies for the financial year 2023-24.
- iii. NCEL has approached  all  States/UTs  to  identify  such Agriculture  and  allied  sector products  that  have  a  comparative  advantage  at  the  global  level,  which  can  be encouraged for export through NCEL and also to nominate a suitable agency, which will work as a nodal agency on behalf of the state government with NCEL.
2. National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL): The NCOL has been promoted by the National  Dairy  Development  Board  (NDDB),  GCMMF,  NAFED,  National  Cooperative Consumers'  Federation  of  India  Limited  (NCCF),  and  National  Cooperative  Development Corporation  (NCDC)  to  provide  institutional  support  for  aggregation,  certification,  testing, procurement, storage, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, logistic facilities, marketing of organic products through its member Cooperatives including PACS/FPOs. The NCOL will help in marketing of authentic and certified organic products to increase production of organic products by the cooperatives at various levels. So far 5,184 cooperatives have become members of NCOL.

## Initiatives undertaken by NCOL to promote cooperatives across the country:

- i. NCOL has launched the 'Bharat  Organics' brand for organic staples in  Delhi  NCR through Safal outlets and has introduced 20 organic products, including Atta, pulses, sweeteners, and spices, in Safal retail stores and other market channels.
- ii. NCOL has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board (UOCB) and procured 40 MT of premium organic Basmati Paddy from Uttarakhand. Farmers received a ₹5 per kg premium above the market price.
- iii. NCOL has initiated procurement of organic-certified Tur (Pigeon Pea) from Vidarbha, Maharashtra, during the current Rabi season, offering an additional ₹5 per kg premium along with service charges for service providers.
- iv. NCOL has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with nodal agencies of 8 States/UTs for the procurement of certified organic products and has identified nodal agencies in 24 other States/UTs for signing MoUs with them.
- v. NCOL has collaborated with APEDA to include Cooperatives as a legal entity under the National Program for Organic Production (NPOP).
3.  Bharatiya  Beej  Sahakari  Samiti  Limited  (BBSSL): The  BBSSL  has  been  promoted  by IFFCO,  KRIBHCO,  NAFED,  NDDB,  and  NCDC  to  undertake  production,  procurement  & distribution of quality seeds under single brand through cooperative network to improve crop yield and develop a system for preservation and promotion of indigenous natural seeds. BBSSL will help in increasing the production of quality seeds in India through cooperatives thereby reducing

the dependence on imported seeds, enhancing agriculture production and providing boost to rural economy. So far 17,425 cooperatives have become members of BBSSL.

## Initiatives undertaken by BBSSL to promote cooperatives across the country:

- i. BBSSL is  setting  up  retail  outlets  for  the  distribution  of  'Bharat  Beej'  through  all available marketing channels including private.
- ii. During Rabi 2023-24 season, 11,575.45 quintals of foundation seed were produced.
- iii. During Kharif 2024 season, 3,820 quintals of foundation seed were produced.
- iv. During Rabi 2024 season, BBSSL has sown 49 varieties of 8 Crops in 5,596 hectares of  area  across  6  states  for  the  production  of  approximately  1,64,804  quintals  of foundation and certified seeds.
- v. BBSSL has so far received license in 11 States/UTs.

(b):          The Government on 15.02.2023, has approved the Plan for strengthening cooperative movement  in  the  country  and  deepening  its  reach  up  to  the  grassroots.  The  Plan  entails establishment of new multipurpose PACS, Dairy and Fishery cooperative societies covering all the Panchayats/ villages in the country including the underserved regions in the next five years, through convergence of various existing GOI schemes, including Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF), National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), etc, with the support of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and State Governments.

In order to ensure effective and timely implementation of the plan, Ministry of Cooperation in coordination with NABARD, NDDB and NFDB has launched a Standard Operating Procedure (Margdarshika)  on  19.9.2024,  indicating  the  targets  and  timelines  for  all  stakeholders concerned. As per Margdarshika, Joint Working Committee (JWC) at the district level have been formed by States/ UTs to ensure timely execution of the plan at the grassroot level.

As per National Cooperative Database, till now 3,654 new multipurpose PACS, 8,256 dairy and  990  fishery  cooperatives  have  been  registered  in  the  country  since  the  launch  of  this initiative.

(c):        Government of India is implementing the Project for Computerization of functional PACS with a total financial outlay of ₹2,516 Crore, which entails bringing all the functional PACS onto an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based common national software, linking them  with  NABARD  through  State  Cooperative  Banks  (StCBs)  and  District  Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs). This common ERP software is provided to all the PACS in the project, across the country, to capture data on all functionalities of PACS, both credit and noncredit. This software is customizable for state-specific needs.

The  ERP  (Enterprise  Resource  Planning)  based  common  national  software  brings  about efficiency  in  PACS  performance  through  a  Common  Accounting  System  (CAS)  and Management Information System (MIS). Further, governance and transparency in PACS also improves,  leading  to  speedy  disbursal  of  loans,  lowering  of  transaction  cost,  reduction  in imbalances in payments, seamless accounting with DCCBs and StCBs.

(d):       A total of 50,455 PACS have been onboarded on ERP Software and hardware has been procured by 30 States/UTs. State-wise list of onboarded PACS is attached as Annexure.

## Annexure

| S. No   | State/ UT         | PACS selected for Computerization   | ERPOnboarded   |
|---------|-------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------|
| 1.      | Maharashtra       | 12,000                              | 10,979         |
| 2.      | Rajasthan         | 6,781                               | 4,206          |
| 3.      | Gujarat           | 5,754                               | 5,249          |
| 4.      | Uttar Pradesh     | 5,686                               | 2,978          |
| 5.      | Karnataka         | 5,491                               | 2,077          |
| 6.      | Madhya Pradesh    | 4,536                               | 4,516          |
| 7.      | Tamil Nadu        | 4,532                               | 4,529          |
| 8.      | Bihar             | 4,495                               | 4,440          |
| 9.      | West Bengal       | 4,167                               | 1,103          |
| 10.     | Punjab            | 3,482                               | 1,720          |
| 11.     | Andhra Pradesh    | 2,037                               | 1,734          |
| 12.     | Chhattisgarh      | 2,028                               | 2,010          |
| 13.     | Himachal Pradesh  | 1,789                               | 836            |
| 14.     | Jharkhand         | 1,500                               | 1,467          |
| 15.     | Haryana           | 710                                 | 617            |
| 16.     | Uttarakhand       | 670                                 | 185            |
| 17.     | Assam             | 583                                 | 580            |
| 18.     | J&K               | 537                                 | 531            |
| 19.     | Tripura           | 268                                 | 245            |
| 20.     | Manipur           | 232                                 | 45             |
| 21.     | Nagaland          | 231                                 | 33             |
| 22.     | Meghalaya         | 112                                 | 103            |
| 23.     | Sikkim            | 107                                 | 107            |
| 24.     | Goa               | 58                                  | 35             |
| 25.     | ANI               | 46                                  | 46             |
| 26.     | Puducherry        | 45                                  | 37             |
| 27.     | Mizoram           | 25                                  | 25             |
| 28.     | Arunachal Pradesh | 14                                  | 11             |
| 29.     | Ladakh            | 10                                  | 9              |
| 30.     | DNH&DD            | 4                                   | 2              |
| Total   | Total             | 67,930                              | 50,455         |