Key Points
- Loan records of 4.02 crore PACS borrowers involving Rs 2.3 lakh crore now digitised
- Platform has processed over 51.58 crore transactions across 63,686 cooperatives
- National Cooperative Database now holds information on 8.6 lakh cooperatives with 32 crore members
The Centre has brought 63,686 primary agricultural credit societies onto a unified digital platform, processing more than 51.58 crore transactions as part of a Rs 2,925 crore computerisation programme aimed at improving transparency in the grassroots cooperative credit system.
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah provided the figures in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (12 August), responding to questions on measures taken by the Ministry of Cooperation over the past three years to expand the use of digital technology and governance systems in the cooperative sector.
Shah said 63,686 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, the grassroots tier of India’s three-level cooperative credit structure, had been onboarded onto the ERP-based National Software under the Centre’s computerisation programme. Of these, 54,707 have been declared e-PACS, meaning they now operate on fully digital workflows.
The programme connects PACS with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks. The Centrally Sponsored Project for Computerisation of functional PACS was initially approved with an outlay of Rs 2,516 crore, which has since been increased to Rs 2,925.39 crore.
Digitisation scope
The common software standardises accounting, audit, management information systems and online service delivery across participating societies. Shah said loan records of 4.02 crore PACS borrowers involving Rs 2.3 lakh crore had been digitised, while deposit records of 5.49 crore depositors involving about Rs 37,000 crore were now available on the platform. Membership records of 10.30 crore people have also been digitised.
The e-PACS platform includes 22 ERP modules, which are integrated software components that handle different operational functions. These modules cover lending, deposits, accounting, audit, member management, procurement and other operational functions of PACS.
By the numbers
- 63,686
- PACS onboarded onto unified digital platform
- Rs 2.3 lakh crore
- Loan records digitised on ePACS
- 51.58 crore
- Transactions processed through platform
The system supports integration with Aadhaar-enabled services, core banking systems of State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks, Point of Sale devices, Common Service Centres, the National Cooperative Database and state-level portals. It also provides facilities for loan origination, Kisan Credit Card processing and mobile-based services.
Data of onboarded PACS is maintained on centralised cloud infrastructure with cyber security safeguards. The platform incorporates maker-checker controls, a system under which transactions go through multiple levels of verification before authorisation.
It also includes an on-system audit module, dashboards, analytics and management information reports for monitoring by higher-tier institutions. The software is available in 20 languages.
Integration with farm schemes
Shah said the Common Service Centre portal had been integrated with e-PACS, allowing societies to provide citizen-facing services through the same infrastructure. Integration with PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendras, AgriStack and Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras was at an advanced stage.
NABARD is implementing end-to-end digitisation of the loan process through e-PACS, followed by integration with the Krishi Rin Portal. The integration is intended to allow loan sanction and disbursement through digital workflows and link interest subvention benefits with authenticated borrower records.
Under the proposed AgriStack integration, farmer profiles, land and crop information and Scale of Finance details can be used while processing loans on the e-PACS system. Details of loans sanctioned through the platform will also be shared with the Krishi Rin Portal using Aadhaar as a common identifier.
The government is separately working on phased integration of e-PACS with the core banking systems of District Central Cooperative Banks to support faster loan disbursal and a shift towards paperless and cashless processes.
The initial integration is focused on TCS-based core banking systems covering 168 State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks across 16 states. It will later be extended to other core banking vendors.
Wider cooperative digitisation
The digitisation programme extends beyond PACS. Shah said the government had launched a centrally sponsored project in January 2024 to computerise offices of Registrars of Cooperative Societies in states and Union Territories.
The project has an outlay of Rs 94.59 crore over three years and is intended to move registration, regulatory interaction and other processes between cooperative societies and RCS offices onto digital platforms.
As of 15 July, 35 states and Union Territories had submitted proposals under the programme and Rs 43.21 crore had been released as the Centre’s share. Integrated RCS portals of seven states and Union Territories had gone live and been connected with the National Cooperative Database.
The government has also approved computerisation of 1,851 units of Agriculture and Rural Development Banks across 13 states and Union Territories, with NABARD as the implementing agency. Nine states and Union Territories have so far procured hardware under the programme.
The National Cooperative Database, launched in March 2024, now contains information on about 8.6 lakh cooperatives across 30 sectors with around 32 crore members. An upgraded NCD Portal 3.0 was launched on 6 July, adding OTP-based login, society-level user access, dashboards, an artificial intelligence chatbot, village-level GIS mapping, multilingual services through Bhashini and API connectivity with state RCS portals for real-time data updates.
The government also launched the NCD GeoTag mobile application on 6 July to capture the latitude and longitude of functional cooperatives and support GIS-based mapping on the national database.
Technology infrastructure is also being expanded across cooperative banks. Shah said the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation had been established as an umbrella organisation for urban cooperative banks and was providing IT infrastructure and operational support to around 1,500 banks. Services launched by the organisation include Digi Loan and Digi Pay.
The Unique Identification Authority of India introduced a new Aadhaar Enabled Payment System onboarding framework in August 2025 under which only State Cooperative Banks are required to onboard as Authentication User Agencies, which are entities authorised to use Aadhaar for verifying identities. District Central Cooperative Banks can use the infrastructure through State Cooperative Banks as sub-AUA or sub-KUA entities.
NABARD has introduced technology-based supervisory systems for cooperative banks. A Cooperative Governance Index for State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks went live on 1 April this year, supported by a digital portal with dashboards and role-based access. NABARD has also introduced an enhanced CAMELSC framework for rural cooperative banks as an intermediate step towards risk-based supervision.
Your Questions, Answered
What is the e-PACS platform?
The e-PACS platform is an ERP-based software system that digitises the operations of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. It includes 22 modules covering lending, deposits, accounting, audit and member management, connecting grassroots cooperatives with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks.
How many farmers are covered under the PACS digitisation programme?
The programme has digitised loan records of 4.02 crore PACS borrowers involving Rs 2.3 lakh crore, deposit records of 5.49 crore depositors involving Rs 37,000 crore and membership records of 10.30 crore people.
What is the National Cooperative Database?
The National Cooperative Database, launched in March 2024, is a central repository containing information on about 8.6 lakh cooperatives across 30 sectors with around 32 crore members. It provides GIS mapping, multilingual services and API connectivity with state portals.
How does PACS digitisation benefit farmers?
Digitisation enables faster loan processing through integration with Kisan Credit Card systems and the Krishi Rin Portal. Farmers benefit from paperless workflows, linked interest subvention benefits and access to services through Common Service Centres in 20 languages.
