New Delhi: Nearly four out of every 10 functional cooperative societies in India are running at a loss, the Centre informed Parliament Wednesday, underlining the financial challenges facing the sector despite the government’s push to expand and strengthen the cooperative movement.
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh (AAP), Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said that as of 15 July 2026, India had 6.63 lakh functional cooperative societies. Of these, 3.56 lakh were profit-making, while 2.50 lakh were loss-making.The financial information was unavailable for another 56,689 societies, Shah said in the reply in Parliament.
The ministry also said the country has a total of 8.53 lakh registered cooperative societies. Of these, 1.41 lakh are non-functional and 49,177 are under liquidation.To revive financially distressed cooperatives, Shah said the government has created a Co-operative Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development Fund under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023.Graphic: Harini TS | ThePrint
“The Ministry of Cooperation has set up Co-operative Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development Fund… for revival of sick multi-state cooperative societies and providing assistance for meeting infrastructural requirement,” the minister stated in the reply in Parliament.The ministry added that it is also encouraging Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), and dairy and fisheries cooperatives to diversify into multipurpose societies to improve their financial sustainability. It is also using the National Cooperative Database (NCD) to identify geographical gaps in the cooperative network and develop a cooperative ranking framework.The sector-wise data showed that housing cooperatives accounted for the largest share at 1.95 lakh, followed by dairy cooperatives (1.58 lakh) and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (1.06 lakh).Graphic: Harini TS | ThePrint
