Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the two-day Earth Summit 2025–26 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
The event, jointly organised by NABARD and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), brings together policymakers, corporates, innovators and rural sector stakeholders.
Amit Shah said the Earth Summit series is designed to transform India’s rural economy into a strong pillar of the national economy. He emphasised that holding the summit in Gujarat — the land of Mahatma Gandhi — underlines the message that India’s growth remains incomplete without rural empowerment.
Shah said that agriculture, animal husbandry, and cooperation — the three pillars of rural development — remained neglected for decades after Independence, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has revitalised them.
He said the combined budget of the Ministries of Rural Development, Agriculture and Cooperation has risen from ₹1.02 lakh crore in 2014 to over ₹3.15 lakh crore in 2025–26, reflecting the government’s commitment to rural transformation.
आज गांधी नगर में NABARD के ‘Earth Summit 2025’ कार्यक्रम को संबोधित किया। यह अपनी तरह का देश का पहला मंच है, जहाँ सहकार की शक्ति, वित्तीय समझ, तकनीकी नवाचार और जमीनी अनुभव को एकसूत्र में पिरोकर रूरल इनोवेशन को ग्लोबल मंच प्रदान किया जा सकेगा।
दो दिनों तक चलने वाले इस समिट में… pic.twitter.com/VvUJFGDmR2
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 5, 2025
Vision for 2047: A Cooperative-Driven Rural Economy
Outlining the government’s long-term vision, Shah said India aims to lead the world in all sectors by 2047. This goal, he stressed, requires empowering citizens at the grassroots level.
The government plans to establish at least one cooperative society in every panchayat and increase active cooperative membership to more than 50 crore. This, he said, will help triple the cooperative sector’s contribution to national GDP.
With the theme ‘Empowering Rural Innovation for Global Change’, Shah said the summit would produce meaningful dialogue and practical solutions to enhance productivity, improve welfare and address structural challenges.
He announced that Delhi would host the third edition of the summit next year, after which authorities will implement a nationwide roadmap to strengthen the rural economy and cooperative movement.
Digital Push: Launch of Sahakar Saathi
Shah unveiled NABARD’s Sahakar Saathi digital suite, offering more than 13 services, including Sahakar Setu and Sangrah Saathi.
The platform aims to bring rural, district and urban cooperative banks under one digital umbrella, offering technology at par with private banks, supporting loan recovery, documentation, KYC compliance and future rollouts such as e-Kisan Credit Cards.
Shah highlighted successful cooperative banking models in Gujarat’s Banaskantha and Panchmahal districts, where cooperative societies maintain deposits with cooperative banks.
This model will soon be implemented nationwide.
He also spoke about India’s rapid growth in natural farming, adopted by over 49 lakh farmers.
India aims to capture more than 20% of the global organic market by 2030 and 40% by 2035 through expanded organic testing ecosystems in partnership with India Organics and Amul Organics.
Cooperative taxi services, currently under trial in Delhi with 51,000 registered drivers, are on track to become the country’s largest taxi network within two years. Cooperative insurance services will also create significant rural employment.
CM Bhupendra Patel said the summit aligns with Gujarat’s vision of strengthening rural economies through innovation, dairy development, natural farming, green growth and women-led enterprises.
The event also saw the launch of NABARD’s State Focus Paper for Gujarat 2026–27 and the NABARD–BCG report ‘The Future of Rural Banking’, in the presence of senior government officials, banking leaders, industry representatives and thousands of delegates.
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