Bhubaneswar, July 22: Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday informed the Lok Sabha that the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has cumulatively disbursed Rs 3,352.03 crore for the development of the cooperative sector in Odisha as on June 30, 2026.

In a written reply, Shah said as per the National Cooperative Database (NCD), as on July 15, 2026, there are a total of 8,667 cooperative societies in Odisha, out of which 8,063 cooperative societies are functional.

To strengthen cooperative societies, the Central Government launched the Central Sector project for Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS), in 2022. Initially, 63,000 PACS were approved under the project with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,516 crore. The project has now been expanded to cover 79,630 PACS with a revised financial outlay of Rs 2,925.39 crore. It aims to bring all functional PACS onto a common ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based national software.

The project also links PACS with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs).

Shah said that Odisha joined the project in 2025. A total of 4,240 PACS have been sanctioned under the PACS computerization project in Odisha. Under the project, financial assistance of Rs 25.07 crore has been provided to Odisha. This includes Rs 18.07 crore during FY 2025–26 and Rs 7.00 crore during FY 2026-27.

The Ministry of Cooperation, since its inception on July 6, 2021, has undertaken several initiatives to realize the vision of “Sahakar-se-Samriddhi” and to enhance the cooperative growth across the country including Odisha.

Key areas of initiatives include making Primary Cooperatives economically vibrant and transparent; strengthening the Urban and Rural Cooperative Banks; relief to Cooperative Societies in the Income Tax Act; revival of Cooperative Sugar Mills; three new National Level Multi-State Societies; Capacity Building in Cooperatives; Use of Information Technology for ‘Ease of Doing Business’; Creation of National Cooperative Database (NCD); National Cooperation Policy (NCP) and Establishment of Tribhuvan Sahkari University.