The just released World Cooperative Monitor (WCM) 2021 report ranks Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMFL), which owns the Amul brand, in the first and third positions globally in the list of top 300 cooperatives identified on the basis of the ratio of turnover over gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. In the agriculture and food industries segment, IFFCO and GCMMFL stood first and second in the ranking. In the industry and utilities segment, Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), a Kerala-based primary cooperative society stood second in the global ranking. Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd (Kribhco) also figures in the agri-food segment as the sixth largest company on a turnover/per-capita GDP basis.

The performance of Indian cooperatives at a global level becomes significant in the backdrop of the government’s recent push to promote cooperative societies in a big way in the country. The ministry of cooperation is headed by Amit Shah, often considered as the second most powerful person in the Narendra Modi cabinet after the prime minister himself.

The annual WCM report is prepared by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) with the scientific and technical support of the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse). IFFCO was the top ranking cooperative in WCM 2020 report too. GCMMFL slipped one position to be the third-largest cooperative this year. In terms of turnover alone, only three Indian firms figure in the top-300 list. IFFCO ranks 60, and GCMMFL 95, and Kribhco 253, in the global top-300 list by turnover.

The ranking in the WCM 2021 edition is based on data from the fiscal year 2019.

The other Indian cooperatives that figured in the top 300 list based on the ratio of turnover over Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita include financial services cooperatives like Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank Ltd (56th position), the Saraswat Cooperative Bank Ltd (59), SCV Bank Ltd (111), Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Banks Ltd (124), The Tjs Bank Ltd (150), Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd (168), Buldana Urban Cooperative Credit Society Ltd (181), Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd (184), Gujarat State Cooperative Bank Ltd (187) and Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Bank (206).

WCM is projected as an exercise to collect robust economic, organisational, and social data about cooperatives worldwide and is the only report of its kind collecting annual quantitative data on the global cooperative movement. The current edition is the 10th annual research report in a row.

WCM 2021 report

IFFCO, GCMMFL among top three global co-operatives