Coops At Odds With Govt, Rbi

The co-operatives have come together at the behest of the National Co-operative Union of India (NCUI), which favours the setting up an apex bank to check the leakage of resources generated by the co-operative sector.

Major co-operatives like Nafed, Saraswat Bank, Iffco and Kribhco have already pooled together Rs 50 crore -- half the minimum capital required to set up a bank as per RBI guidelines. They have also applied for a licence to set up the proposed bank.

The tussle began when the government objected to the name of the proposed bank, the National Co-operation Bank of India. The government, which is the majority shareholder in some of the big co-operatives, forced them to drop the word, 'national'.