Budget may signal new cooperative ambition

A blueprint is likely on the anvil to spell out how the sector will reach 500 million people and treble its economic contribution, writes Sanjeeb Mukherjee

- Sanjeeb Mukherjee

The Union Budget for 2026-27 is expected to sketch out a road map for trebling the cooperative sector’s contribution to the Indian economy over the next decade, with the aim of bringing 500 million people within its ambit, in line with the objectives of the National Cooperative Policy, 2025.

Sources said the National Cooperative Policy, launched by the Union Minister for Cooperation Amit Shah in the national capital a few months ago, clearly articulated the need to constitute a task force to expand the number of people involved with cooperatives by 66 per cent from the existing 300 million, while ensuring the autonomous functioning of cooperatives and democratic control by their members.