Maharashtra leads with over 2.21 lakh cooperatives and nearly 5.8 crore members. Karnataka and Kerala report very high membership relative to the number of registered societies, while Gujarat, Telangana, UP, Bihar, and West Bengal together account for several crore members. India accounts for about 27% of cooperatives worldwide. International study suggest cooperatives support about 10% of global employment, with around 15 Indian entities featuring in the Global Top 300 rankings. As of March 2025, India had 1,457 urban cooperative banks, holding assets of about Rs 7.38 trillion and deposits of roughly Rs 5.84 trillion.

Source: Indian Express January 19, 2026 04:37 UTC