Amit Shah says GDP alone cannot decide country’s growth

He was speaking at the national conference organised by Nafed on the occasion of 2025 being the International Year of Cooperatives.
Earlier, Shah said that cooperative sector weakened in the northern and eastern parts of the country and maintained to work towards symmetrical development in the coming years.

“We are already taking steps to change uneven growth of the cooperative sector to symmetrical development. The co-operative movement had weakened in the northern and eastern parts of the country and was stable mostly in western India…Cooperative sector provides for growth and development of the economy with less capital and more profit. We will make the cooperation sector progress with landmark growth and strengthen it in the nook and corner of the country,” Shah said.

Shah said cooperative movement revolutionalised the rural economy and gave the example of Amul in Gujarat where 36 lakh women associated with it didn’t even have Rs 100 in capital but have today handling a turnover of Rs 80,000 crore.

He mentioned that dal, maize, oil seeds can be sold to Nafed from farmers and if the market rate is more, farmers can sell the produce directly. “It is to ensure that farmers get the maximum profit,” he said.

Shah said the cooperation ministry has compiled a data of cooperative units in the country so that the government knows where the vacuum is and how to expand it. Two lakh new primary agriculture credit societies (PACS) will also be formed and will be made multi-dimensional, he said.

Later in the day, Amit Shah inaugurated the newly constructed headquarters of the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA) in Mumbai and participated in a state-level cooperative industrial conference.

Shah said that when an institution completes 100 years, its traditions, rules, and methods often become outdated, but this centenary year is not only a moment of pride for all and is also an opportunity for introspection. “Today, transformative changes have occurred in the fields of industry, commerce, and agriculture in the country, alongside changes in the policymaking process, with the entire economy now being global…due to changes in policy-making and tireless efforts in implementation, the global reputation of India’s passport has also increased. It is time for Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture across the country to introspect on their operations,” he said.

Shah said that today we have become the fourth-largest economy in the world. “This chamber has witnessed a significant period of transformation — a time when we did not make our own decisions but were dependent on the laws made by the parliament of another country. From that day to today, we have become the fourth-largest economy in the world, surpassing those who ruled over us for 200 years,” he said.