HM Amit Shah announces cooperative life insurance company on lines of Bharat Taxi
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah announced that the government will set up a cooperative life insurance company, expanding India’s cooperative ecosystem into the financial services sector. The announcement was made during the 5th Foundation Day celebration of the Ministry of Cooperation in the national capital.
Shah said the proposed insurance company will be developed on the lines of the successful “Bharat Taxi” cooperative model, which he noted is performing well and will be expanded to 500 cities over the next two years. He said the initiative will further strengthen cooperatives by bringing them into the insurance and financial services space.
Highlighting the government’s focus on cooperative expansion, Shah said the movement, which he described as previously “neglected,” has gained new momentum after the creation of the Ministry of Cooperation. He added that India today has around 8.5 lakh cooperatives with over 30 crore members, making it one of the largest cooperative networks globally.
He also pointed out that the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) is already active in the insurance sector through a joint venture with a Japanese company, indicating the growing diversification of cooperatives into new business areas.
Shah said the government has taken multiple steps in the last five years to bring transparency, professionalism and digitisation into the cooperative sector. As part of these efforts, a comprehensive database of cooperatives has been created to support expansion and better governance.
He further announced the establishment of the “Tribhuvan Sahkari University” in Anand, Gujarat, aimed at strengthening human resource development in the cooperative sector. According to him, cooperatives are no longer limited to traditional sectors like dairy, sugar and fertilisers but are now expanding into new areas of the economy.
During the event, Shah also laid the foundation and inaugurated several cooperative infrastructure projects, including grain storage godowns and digital transformation initiatives for Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS). A major highlight was the conversion of 50,000 PACS into e-PACS, aimed at boosting digital empowerment at the grassroots level.
Several agreements and initiatives were also announced, including MoUs to strengthen seed systems and the release of model bye-laws for dairy cooperatives. Shah said these reforms align with the vision of “Sahakar Se Samriddhi” and contribute to the broader goal of a developed and self-reliant India by 2047.