• The National Co-operative Exports Limited (NCEL), established under the Ministry of Cooperation, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to strengthen India’s agricultural exports through the cooperative sector.
• The collaboration seeks to tap global markets more effectively and position cooperative-produced goods as competitive export commodities.
• NCEL was set up under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 as an umbrella organization to give a dedicated push to exports from cooperatives.
• Headquartered in New Delhi, it brings together leading institutions like AMUL (GCMMF), IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, and NCDC as its key promoters.
• Membership is open to cooperative societies across all levels, from primary to apex, that have an interest in exports.
• The body plays a vital role in procurement, storage, processing, marketing, branding, packaging, certification, research, and trading of cooperative goods and services.
• It also facilitates financing, provides technical expertise, supports training and capacity building, and develops market intelligence systems.
• Its primary aim is to export surplus production from Indian cooperatives by connecting them with wider global markets.
• The MoU with APEDA marks a strategic step in aligning India’s cooperative-driven surplus production with the country’s export growth agenda, reinforcing the vision of making Indian cooperatives globally competitive.