UP’s cooperative banks, MSME sector revived since 2017: CM Adityanath

Lucknow, Feb 5 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the state has witnessed a major turnaround in the cooperative and MSME sectors since 2017, asserting that clear intent of the government has delivered visible results on the ground.

Recalling the situation before 2017, Adityanath said development and employment opportunities were lacking and the cooperative sector was in disarray.

“Before 2017, there was neither development nor employment. The cooperative sector was dominated by people who were nothing less than mafias,” he said.

He said as many as 16 district cooperative banks had been declared defaulters by the Reserve Bank of India at that time.

“Today, 15 out of these 16 district cooperative banks have come into profit. Efforts are on to bring the remaining one also into profit,” the chief minister said.

Addressing the State Credit Seminar and the release of the State Focus Paper 2026-27 on credit potential in priority sectors of Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath said the government has strengthened Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) across the state.

“The number of PACS in Uttar Pradesh is large. We have increased their turnover, enhanced their credit limits and involved them in fertiliser distribution work,” he said.

Despite manpower shortages in the cooperative department, Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh has achieved one of the best fertiliser distribution systems in the country.

“With a little effort and coordination between agriculture and cooperation departments, cooperatives have once again emerged as a new mass movement,” he added.

Highlighting reforms in the MSME sector, the chief minister said the situation earlier had forced large-scale migration from the state.

“Artisans were disheartened and the MSME sector was on the verge of collapse. The government provided encouragement and promoted it through the ‘One District One Product’ initiative,” he said.

Adityanath said UP is now the first state in the country to provide insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh to its MSME sector. “When the intention of the government is clear, the results are also clearly visible,” he added. PTI ABN ANU ANU