Historic Partnership to Power Cooperative-Led Growth in Dairy, Renewable Energy, Carbon Markets, and Global Trade — Anchored in the Sahkar Se Samriddhi Vision
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The MoU is signed in the spirit of the UN-designated International Year of Cooperatives 2025 and India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision — positioning Indian cooperatives as engines of inclusive, sustainable economic growth. |
ADVANCING SAHKAR SE SAMRIDDHI
India’s cooperative sector — encompassing over 850,000 cooperatives and serving more than 300 million members — stands at a pivotal juncture. This MoU directly responds to the Government of India’s Sahkar Se Samriddhi initiative by expanding cooperative networks, integrating farmer-centric enterprises into global value chains, and creating institutional frameworks for Cooperative Commodity Zones (CCZ) and Cooperative Economic Zones (CEZ) across the country.
NDDB’s unparalleled expertise in dairy cooperative management and rural development, combined with WCEF’s global influence in cooperative economic governance and its Special Consultative Status with the United Nations ECOSOC, creates a potent institutional synergy aimed at elevating the Annadaata — India’s farmers — to the centre of the national economic agenda.
“This partnership reflects our shared conviction that cooperatives are not merely economic institutions — they are civilisational instruments of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Together with NDDB, WCEF will work to ensure that India’s cooperative success story is recognised as a global benchmark.” — Binod Anand, Founder & Executive President, WCEF
KEY AREAS OF COLLABORATION
The MoU delineates five principal domains of collaboration:
▪ Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) & Renewable Energy: Promotion of decentralized CBG plants under cooperative ownership, converting dairy and agricultural waste into clean energy and generating new income streams for rural households.
▪ Carbon Credit Markets: Development of cooperative-led carbon trading mechanisms and blockchain-enabled carbon credit tracking systems, enabling farmers to directly monetize sustainable agricultural practices.
▪ Cooperative Commodity & Economic Zones: Establishment of dedicated cooperative trade, processing, and value-addition hubs with direct farmer-market linkages, cooperative export corridors, and domestic and foreign investment facilitation.
▪ Digital Integration & Fintech: Deployment of digital platforms, fintech solutions, and blockchain supply chain management to ensure transparency, efficiency, and global market access for Indian cooperatives.
▪ Policy Advocacy & Global Trade: Integration of India’s cooperative business models into global trade agreements, and joint advocacy for equitable cooperative-led frameworks in international policy fora.
GLOBAL COOPERATIVE ECONOMIC SUMMIT
As a flagship joint initiative under the MoU, NDDB and WCEF will co-host an annual Global Cooperative Economic Summit — a high-level convening bringing together policymakers, global industry leaders, multilateral financial institutions, and cooperative organizations worldwide. The Summit will serve as a platform to position India as the thought leader in cooperative-driven economic development and to strengthen India’s Vishwa Bandhu positioning in the emerging multipolar global order.
Regional and national conferences, capacity-building workshops for cooperative leaders, and mass awareness roadshows across rural India will complement the flagship Summit, ensuring that cooperative dividends reach the grassroots.
“India’s cooperative ecosystem has demonstrated to the world that farmer welfare and global competitiveness are not contradictory goals. This MoU deepens institutional commitment to that proposition and translates it into actionable frameworks.”
PHASED IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP
The MoU is structured for a five-year period with a phased implementation architecture. Phase I (Year 1) will establish a Joint Working Group, initiate pilot CBG and carbon credit projects, and launch farmer capacity-building programmes. Phase II (Months 12–24) will scale cooperative renewable energy projects and launch blockchain-enabled tracking systems. Phase III (Year 3 onwards) will achieve full integration into international carbon trading platforms and establish India as the preeminent global reference for cooperative economic frameworks.
A dedicated Cooperative Renewable Energy Fund will be explored to attract green finance, with cooperative commodity zones linked to financial institutions for credit access, risk mitigation, and insurance mechanisms.
ABOUT NDDB
The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is an apex statutory body established by the Government of India, headquartered at Anand, Gujarat. NDDB is the architect of India’s White Revolution — Operation Flood — and continues to lead cooperative-based dairy and agricultural development across the country.
ABOUT WCEF
The World Cooperative Economic Forum (WCEF) is an international organization with UN ECOSOC Special Consultative Status, dedicated to advancing cooperative economic frameworks globally. WCEF operates alongside the Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI) and publishes under the Voice of Rural India platform. WCEF is headquartered at 273-D/C2, Chhatarpur Enclave Phase 2, New Delhi – 110 074.
