The first Annual General Board meeting of National Cooperative Exports was conducted at GCMMF Zonal Office in Janakpuri, New Delhi. GCMMF (AMUL) has sent a nomination of Shamalbhai Patel, which was supported by Bijendra Singh, chairman of the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED), and Rakesh Kapur, joint managing director of Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Co-operative (IFFCO). Shamalbhai Patel was appointed unanimously as a board member of the newly formed national-level multi-state cooperative. Shamalbhai Patel is the chairman of the Sabarkantha District Milk Producers Union and is also serving as chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation.

Earlier, in January 2023, The Union Cabinet, chaired by the hon’ble prime minister Narendra Modi, approved a historic decision of setting up and promoting a national-level cooperative society to support exports of small co-operative societies under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002.

The new national-level multi-state cooperative is set up to provide thrust to export from the cooperative sector by acting as the umbrella organization for managing various activities related to exports.

Shamalbhai informed that any cooperative institution from Primary to National level cooperative societies including PACS, District, State, and National level federations, multi-state cooperative societies, and Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) can become members of National Co-operatives Exports.

NCEL will manage various activities related to the export of any products produced by any co-operatives / FPO etc. It will help in unlocking the demand and consumption potential of the export of various products in global markets.  This society will also help cooperatives and ultimately their farmer members in getting benefits of the high price of their products through aggregation, branding, and marketing on a large scale by facilitating exports of the same and will also help the country in earning valuable foreign exchange.

The appointment of Shamalbhai Patel as a board member at such a National Level Institute is a matter of pride for farmers of Gujarat and Sabarkantha in particular.