INDIA. The Indian cooperatives movement, to date, has become one of the largest in the world. Sixty‐seven percent (67%) of households and 99% of rural communities are involved, in one way or another, in the cooperative sector. This success can be attributed to a series of legislative instruments on cooperatives, based on the Western model, which dates back to 1904, when a commitment to develop cooperatives began in that country. In 1904, the Cooperative Societies Act was, for the first time, introduced to enable socio‐economic transformation, particularly in underdeveloped rural areas, where subsistence farmers were at the mercy of unscrupulous moneylenders – their only source of credit. In 1912, the law was amended to include all types of cooperatives across the country – a change which empowered cooperatives to implement their own laws. At the time of independence in 1947, the government considered cooperatives to be integral to poverty alleviation and the economic growth of the country, and cooperatives continue to play an important role in development in rural India. The applicable law currently is the Multi‐State Cooperatives Societies Act of 2002, which governs the movement. The National Cooperative Union of India is the apex body that promotes cooperatives nationally and provides education and training to boost the industry. The state provides support through tax benefits and financing schemes, and an increasingly decentralised state system has promoted development initiatives at regional level. NGOs are providers of assistance, particularly in rural areas of the country.
