The Economic Survey 2025–26, tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, places cooperatives at the centre of India’s economic and agricultural transformation. From regulatory simplification to expanded rural credit and digital integration, the Survey highlights cooperatives as key enablers of the Viksit Bharat vision. A major reform highlighted in the Survey is the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) comprehensive overhaul of its regulatory instructions. Importantly for the cooperative sector, instructions issued by NABARD to Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), State Cooperative Banks and Central Cooperative Banks have also been consolidated in consultation with NABARD. While larger banks lead adoption, many urban cooperative banks and smaller NBFCs face constraints such as limited IT budgets, inadequate data infrastructure and shortage of skilled manpower.