NCDC Amendment Bill may make loans and grants easier for farmers and rural businesses through stronger cooperative financing for agriculture, dairy, fisheries, storage and processing projects.
By Rajat Sharma
NCDC Amendment Bill introduced in Lok Sabha.
Direct loans and grants proposed for eligible institutions.
Agriculture, dairy, fisheries and storage projects could benefit.
NCDC may invest in cooperative-sector share capital.
Government to provide ₹2,000 crore grant over four years.
Farmers and rural businesses linked to the cooperative sector may soon find it easier to access loans and other financial assistance. The government has introduced the NCDC Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha, proposing wider powers for the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).
The proposed changes aim to expand NCDC’s financial support for cooperative-sector institutions and make its lending and investment process more direct, flexible and timely. Projects related to agriculture, dairy, fisheries, storage, food processing and other rural businesses could benefit from the proposed framework.
One of the key proposals in the NCDC Amendment Bill is to allow NCDC to provide direct loans and grants to eligible institutions working in cooperative development.
At present, some institutions face legal and procedural difficulties in receiving financial assistance directly from NCDC. Under the proposed changes, this could become easier when the funds are intended to support cooperative societies and their activities.
NCDC may also ask for suitable security or guarantees while providing such financial assistance.
The move is expected to make funding more accessible and reduce delays for projects being developed for the benefit of farmers and cooperative members.
The proposed system could make it easier to finance projects that support farmers and rural businesses.
For instance, if a dairy cooperative wants to set up a milk chilling centre, a farmer cooperative wants to build a storage or agricultural produce processing facility, or an institution wants to develop infrastructure for fish production and marketing, eligible organisations could potentially receive direct financial assistance from NCDC.
Faster access to funds could help such projects begin on time while improving the services available to farmers and cooperative members.
The proposed changes could also support activities that help increase farmers’ incomes by strengthening infrastructure for storage, processing, dairy and fisheries.
The proposed amendment is not limited to loans and grants. It also seeks to give NCDC the ability, with government approval, to participate in the share capital of cooperative societies and eligible institutions involved in cooperative development.
This would expand NCDC’s role beyond being only a lending institution. It could also make capital investments in suitable cooperative-sector projects.
Such investment could help mobilise additional funds for large-scale and long-term projects, where regular loans may not be sufficient to meet capital requirements.
Another major part of the proposal is government financial support for NCDC.
The government has decided to provide a ₹2,000 crore grant to NCDC over four years, covering the financial years 2025-26 to 2028-29.
With this support, NCDC is expected to be able to raise around ₹20,000 crore to strengthen its lending capacity for the cooperative sector.
The additional financial capacity could help cooperatives meet both their long-term capital requirements and working capital needs. Institutions working in agriculture, dairy, fisheries, storage and processing are among those that could benefit from greater access to funding.
If the proposed amendment becomes law, eligible cooperative-sector organisations could have access to a wider range of financial support.
For farmers, the potential benefit would mainly come through stronger cooperative infrastructure. Better access to finance could support the creation or expansion of storage facilities, processing units, dairy infrastructure, fisheries-related projects and other rural businesses.
However, the NCDC Amendment Bill has only been introduced in the Lok Sabha. It still needs to go through the required legislative process before its proposed provisions can come into effect.
The actual availability, eligibility and terms of financial assistance will become clearer once the Bill completes the legislative process and the amended framework is implemented.
Also Read: Escorts Kubota Tractor Prices to Increase in August 2026
The NCDC Amendment Bill could give a major boost to cooperative-sector financing by allowing more direct loans, grants and capital investment. With a ₹2,000 crore government grant expected to help NCDC raise around ₹20,000 crore, the proposal could strengthen agriculture, dairy, fisheries, storage and processing projects. For farmers and rural businesses, easier institutional funding could mean faster project development and better cooperative services, subject to the Bill becoming law.
Add CMV360 on Google
