Press Information Bureau

National Co-operative Exports Limited (NCEL) and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to forge a strategic partnership aimed at elevating India’s cooperative-led agricultural exports. The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation and it underscores the Government’s commitment to synergise the strengths of the Ministry of Cooperation and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Shri Abhishek Dev, Chairman, APEDA and Shri Unupom Kausik, Managing Director, NCEL signed the MoU on behalf of their organisations.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, said that aligning NCEL’s network with APEDA’s export facilitation will enhance value realisation for farmers, bolster rural livelihoods, and strengthen India’s position in international markets in line with the objectives of the newly launched National Cooperation Policy.

He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji and guidance of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, the Ministry is working in line with their vision to empower cooperative institutions to compete globally. He said that NCEL and APEDA will jointly focus on capacity building and training, quality compliance for export, infrastructure support and revival, participation in international trade fairs, international branding and market positioning, market intelligence and data analytics, and commodity-specific export strategy formulation.

Dr. Bhutani said that through this MoU, cooperative societies will gain insights into global quality standards, food safety, and export documentations through structured training programmes and workshops. He said that APEDA’s export facilitation efforts can be integrated with NCEL’s outreach network to streamline compliance for fruits, vegetables, spices, processed foods, cereals, and animal products.

Shri Pankaj Kumar Bansal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation said that the MoU empowers NCEL with APEDA’s technical expertise and policy support, enabling its members to achieve export excellence, access new markets, and secure premium value for their produce.

The MoU marks a pivotal step towards building a resilient and competitive cooperative export ecosystem. By integrating APEDA’s infrastructure and market-access capabilities with NCEL’s extensive network, the partnership will deliver tangible economic benefits to farmer-members, enhance India’s export portfolio, and reinforce the cooperative movement’s contribution to national growth as envisioned in the newly launched National Cooperation Policy. By leveraging NCEL’s role as the national umbrella organisation for cooperative exports and APEDA’s mandate to facilitate market development, and export promotion, the partnership will drive export readiness, branding, infrastructure augmentation, and capacity building across India’s cooperative sector.

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