Tamil Nadu News

TN Cooperative Sector Reforms

August 22 , 2026 1 hrs 0 min 9 0

Tamil Nadu Minister for Cooperation V. Gandhiraj announced several measures for the Cooperation Department in the 2026 State Budget, including a new State Cooperative Policy and welfare and business initiatives.
Tamil Nadu will formulate a State Cooperative Policy to make cooperative institutions people-centric, transparent, economically sustainable and competitive.
The Singa Pengal Loan Scheme will be implemented through cooperative banks with an allocation of ₹7,015 crore to promote women as entrepreneurs.
Rural business loans will be provided to farmers at 9% interest to start agriculture-allied businesses, with ₹5,000 crore allocated for the initiative.
A common business brand called ‘Vettri’ will be introduced to improve the quality, marketing, market share and profits of products manufactured by cooperatives.
150 permanent buildings will be constructed for Public Distribution System (PDS) outlets functioning in rented premises at a cost of ₹15 crore.
A new agricultural produce auction centre will be established on 5,084 sq. ft. of land at Aykudi village in Koothanallur taluk of Tiruvarur district, at a cost of ₹53 lakh.
Petrol, diesel and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling stations will be established at cooperative society premises in Mayiladuthurai and Dindigul districts, at a cost of ₹50 lakh.
E-auction systems will be introduced in 80 cooperative producers’ cooperative marketing societies at an estimated cost of ₹25 lakh.
Women will be given priority in the appointment of salespersons for 105 newly established fair-price shops.
The sale of fertilisers and seeds supplied to farmers through the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation (TANFED) will be increased from the current ₹898 crore to ₹2,500 crore.
To improve transparency, Light Emitting Diode (LED) boards will be installed in 100 fair-price shops in the first phase at an estimated cost of ₹20 lakh to display stock details.
A real-time vehicle tracking system will be introduced for vehicles transporting essential commodities at a cost of ₹2 crore.