At Hyderabad edition of Earth Summit 2025-26
Sahakar Sarathi Poised to Drive Next-Gen Rural Development
- Earth Summit is an initiative by NABARD & IAMAI to empower rural innovation and showcase transformative solutions from innovators, farmer collectives, women entrepreneurs, and local communities.
- The inaugural conference is being held at HITEX Exhibition Centre, Hyderabad, on November 20–21, 2025
Hyderabad, November 20, 2025: Mr. Shaji KV, Chairman, NABARD,emphasised the need for technology-led transformation of Rural Financial Institutionsin a fireside chatwith Ms. Neetu Chitkara, India Leader, People Organization Practice, BCG, on thetopic‘Lending 2.0: Rethinking Rural Credit for a Digital, Data-Driven Decade.’He also highlighted NABARD’s transformation journey, led by data and technology. Mr. Shaji KV was speaking at the Hyderabad edition of Earth Summit 2025-26.
Speaking about NABARD’s recently launched Sahakar Sarathi Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Shaji KV, Chairman, NABARD, said he envisions it playing a pivotal role in transforming India’s rural ecosystem. “India needs solutions that are rooted in its own context and responsive to its unique conditions. Sahakar Sarathi Pvt. Ltd. is designed as a rural transformation catalyst, supporting nearly 130 million customers across the cooperative banking network. It has the potential to be a true game changer—strengthening technology adoption, elevating governance standards, and streamlining processes within the cooperative sector.”
He added that the initiative focuses on modernising cooperative institutions through digital enablement, capacity enhancement, and improved service delivery. Mr. Shaji also called upon government bodies, cooperative banks, technology partners, and development organisations to join hands, collaborate, and contribute to this forward-looking initiative, emphasising that collective effort will be key to building a more resilient, efficient, and future-ready cooperative ecosystem for rural India.
Speaking at the same conference,highlighting the critical role NABARD is playing,Mr. Goverdhan Singh Rawat, Deputy Managing Director, NABARD, said, “We are developing an entire cooperative stack, which is not only digitising the entire base level structure or the primary agricultural credit societies, but also promoting new cooperative societies. This will have a broader outreach at the ground level. Through this co-operative structure, we want to deliver not only credit, but also other non-credit services to do the farmers.” Mr. Rawat was part of a panel discussion titled ‘Agri Exports & Global Value Chains’ along with Mr. R P Naidu, Regional Head, RO Hyderabad & Visakhapatnam., APEDA and Mr. Sachin Sharma, Vice President & Head, Agribusiness, ITC. The session was moderated by Ms. Aparna Bijapurkar, Managing Director and Partner, BCG.
The Earth Summit 2025–26 is jointly organised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The two-day summit is bringing together policymakers, startups, financial institutions, digital platforms, climate-tech innovators, and energy enterprises, from South, East, and North-east India under one roof to reimagine the future of rural India. This year’s Earth Summit opens in Hyderabad, with the next editions set to be held in Gandhinagar and Delhi.
The Summit is supported by key national institutions, including the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. Their involvement reflects a coordinated effort to strengthen rural development through technology and policy alignment.
Centered around the theme ‘Empowering Rural Innovation for Global Change’, the Hyderabad edition is being held at HITEX Exhibition Centre on November 20-21, 2025. It will host 2,000+ attendees, 80+ speakers and panelists, 50+ exhibitors, 25+ sessions, participation from 15 States and UTs, and 1 flagship hackathon.
Day 1 of Earth Summit in Hyderabad will feature an expansive line-up of keynotes, fireside chat, panel discussions and impact sessions with notable voices from the government including Shri Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu (Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana), Mr. Tummala Nageswara Rao, (Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Marketing, Co-operation, and Handlooms & Textiles, Government of Telangana), Mr. Shaji KV, Chairman (NABARD), Mr. Subho Ray, President (IAMAI), Mr. G S Rawat, Deputy Managing Director (NABARD), Mr. Chinmoy Kumar (Regional Director, RBI, Hyderabad), Mr. Ashish Choudhury (Chief Investment Officer, NABVENTURES) etc.
