Trade, import and export for MSMEs: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday said it has approved setting up and promoting a national-level multistate cooperative export society under the Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 “for undertaking exports of all goods and services produced by cooperatives and related entities,” a statement said. The cabinet said the proposed society will provide “thrust to exports from the cooperative sector by acting as an umbrella organisation for carrying out and promoting exports. This will help unlock the export potential of Indian cooperatives in global markets.”
Moreover, the society will also support cooperatives in getting benefits of different export-related schemes and policies of various ministries of the central government through the “Whole of Government Approach”. The cabinet added that the members would benefit by the realization of better prices through the export of their goods and services and also by dividends distributed out of the surplus generated by the society.
According to the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), cooperatives are autonomous associations of people united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.
The cabinet further noted that higher exports through the proposed society will increase the production of goods and services by the cooperatives at various levels. This will lead to more employment in the cooperative sector even as the processing of goods and enhancing the services to match international standards will also generate additional employment,” it added.
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Apart from boosting exports by cooperatives, the cabinet had last year also enabled digital public procurement for them through the Government eMarketplace (GeM) portal. In June 2022, the cabinet had approved the inclusion of cooperatives as buyers on GeM to help them benefit from the GeM marketplace and give GeM sellers access to cooperatives as buyers. Addressing the digital launch of the onboarding of cooperatives, cooperation minister Amit Shah in August last year had said that over 300 cooperatives including 45 multi-state cooperative societies were onboarded on GeM as buyers.