New Delhi | Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC) and asked the umbrella body to set up one urban cooperative bank in each town.

NUCFDC has received the RBI approval to function as a non-banking finance company and a self-regulatory organisation for the urban cooperative banking sector.

After the launch, Shah said, "After 20 years, NUCFDC has been established. This is the need of the hour. I am happy the RBI has given approval for this." Urban cooperative banks have been operating in India for a long time, but could not grow rapidly even though they can play a key role in the country's economic growth, he said.

The main objective of NUCFDC should be to help urban cooperative banks adhere to the Banking Regulations Act and bring professionalism in their work, the minister said.

There are more than 1,500 urban cooperative banks with 11,000 branches and a deposit of Rs 5 lakh crore across the country, he added.

Minister of State for Cooperation B L Verma, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Cooperation Secretary Ashish Bhutani, and NUCFDC Chairman Jyotindra Mehta were present at the event.