Our Director – Policy and Strategy, Komal Gupta, spoke with Vivek Pandey, Chief Operating Officer of Bharat Taxi, to understand the vision behind India’s emerging cooperative mobility platform. The conversation explores driver ownership, platform economics, and Bharat Taxi’s expansion strategy.
The most significant revision in the 2026 framework is the extension of the Deep Tech age limit to 20 years and the turnover cap to ₹300 crore.
India’s cooperative movement is among the largest in the world. With more than 8.4 lakh registered cooperatives and over 30 crore members, the sector forms a critical pillar of the country’s rural and semi-urban economic architecture.
India’s app-based ride-hailing market has reshaped urban commuting over the last decade. Platforms such as Uber and Ola have embedded algorithm-driven pricing, real-time vehicle matching and digital payments into everyday life. Ride-hailing is no longer a niche convenience.
The dawn of Viksit Bharat 2047 (Developed India 2047) is fundamentally tied to the rural economy, where the white revolution is transitioning into its second phase. Since the establishment of the dedicated Ministry of Cooperation in 2021, the cooperative sector has witnessed a tectonic shift in policy support. Yet, as the nation targets inclusive growth, it faces a paradox: while the “Amul Model” stands as a global beacon of success, many state-level dairy cooperatives remain stagnant or failing. To bridge this gap, India must pivot toward a reformative paradigm—one that marries modern cooperative incentives with the profound principles of Ancient Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) for governance.
The Union Budget 2026-27, based on and inspired by 3 kartavyas, was presented on 1st February 2026 by Hon’ble Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman. In order to address these three kartavyas, a threefold approach as supportive ecosystem has been adopted.
In conversation with K.K. Ravindran, Managing Director, National Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development Banks’ Federation Ltd.
In conversation with Professor Umakant Dash, Vice Chancellor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics
In conversation with Bhima Subrahmanyam, Managing Director and CEO of the National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) and President of the International Cooperative Banking Association (ICBA).
The ‘Report on Trends and Progress of Banking in India, 2024-25’ has been published by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently. Happily, the Report has devoted a full chapter on various aspects of the Cooperative Banks that includes the Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and the Rural Credit Cooperatives (RCCs).
The recent decision of the Government of India to recognise cooperatives as startups under the revised Startup India framework marks a historic and transformative policy shift.
