Grand ambitions: On India’s cooperative sector

The article discusses the five-year journey of India's Ministry of Cooperation, highlighting its efforts to revitalize and expand the cooperative sector beyond its traditional agricultural focus. The Ministry aims to bring policy coherence across various sectors, empower Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to undertake diverse business activities, and facilitate new national-level multi-State cooperative societies to strengthen value chains and market access. While promoting cooperatives as an alternative to hypercompetitive business models, the article also acknowledges challenges such as corruption, inefficiency, and the need to balance consolidation with decentralization and local control. The ultimate goal is to develop India's cooperative sector as a global model.