(i) Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank Ltd (TNSCB) Chennai

The Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank is the federation of the District Central Cooperative Banks. Being the Apex Bank, it raises resources and channelises them through District Central Cooperative Banks for both agricultural and non-agricultural purpose. It also channelises the refinance provided by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) towards short term and medium term agriculture and allied sector loans to District Central Cooperative Banks.

The Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank maintains a fund called the Primary Cooperative Development Fund financed out of contribution of profit making Central Cooperative Banks and the Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank. The fund is utilized to strengthen the infrastructure facilities of the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Banks in the State.

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(ii) District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB)

The central co-operative banks are located at the district headquarters or some prominent town of the district. These banks have a few private individuals also who provide both finance and management. The central co-operative banks have three sources of funds,

• Their own share capital and reserves
• Deposits from the public and
• Loans from the state co-operative banks

Their main function is to lend to primary credit society apart from that, central cooperative banks have been undertaking normal commercial banking business also, such as attracting deposits from the general public and lending to the needy against proper securities.

There are 23 District Central Cooperative Banks in the State with 717 branches mostly in rural areas to serve the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Banks and the rural public. In addition, they meet the credit needs of dairy, handlooms, sugar and such other affiliated cooperatives. They also lend directly to the public for non-agricultural purposes within the area of operation of their branches.

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(iii) Primary Agricultural Cooperative Banks (PACB)

In Tamil Nadu, there are 4474 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Banks which provide credit to the farmers, distribute inputs like fertilizers and also run outlets under Public Distribution System. These banks provide short term and medium term credit for agriculture and allied activities. The short term loans are repayable within a period of 12 to 15 months and the medium term loans are repayable within 3 to 5 years.