Lucknow, Sep 23: Cooperative-based mobility service Bharat Taxi was formally launched in five more cities of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, expanding its operations to Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Kanpur and Prayagraj.Union Minister of State for Cooperation Murlidhar Mohol said the service was aimed at giving drivers a greater role in the ownership and functioning of the platform under the cooperative model.
The launch event in Lucknow was attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, state ministers and senior officials. More than 50,000 people from different districts of the state joined the programme virtually, according to the ministry.Several other digital initiatives were also launched during the event.
These included the portal for the Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Yojana, the Urvarak Setu mobile application developed by the state Cooperation Department and the UP Cooperative Database Centre (UPCDC) mobile application.
The Airport Authority, Lucknow Metro Rail and Lucknow Police also exchanged memoranda of understanding with Bharat Taxi as part of efforts to strengthen the service’s institutional presence in the state.Mohol said the cooperative sector has expanded into areas beyond its traditional activities, including agriculture, storage, organic products, seeds, exports and mobility.
According to the ministry, Bharat Taxi was launched in February 2026 and has added more than 10 lakh drivers, referred to as ‘Saarathis’, within six months. The platform is handling around 20,000 rides a day, while more than Rs 100 crore has reportedly been transferred to the accounts of participating drivers during this period.
The minister said the cooperative mobility model is based on the principle of “Driver is the Owner”, under which drivers are intended to have a stake in the cooperative rather than functioning only as service providers.The five newly covered Uttar Pradesh cities have so far registered around 40,000 prospective Bharat Taxi drivers, the ministry said.
Mohol also highlighted the government’s broader cooperative-sector initiatives, stating that more than 160 measures have been introduced by the Cooperation Ministry over the past five years.
He said around 80,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across the country are currently being computerised at an estimated cost of about Rs 3,000 crore.
The government is also seeking to expand the activities of PACS by linking them with services such as storage, insurance, common service centres, pharmacies and agricultural input distribution.
The minister said around 8.5 lakh cooperative societies currently operate across the country with approximately 32 crore members.He also highlighted the role of three national multi-state cooperative organisations focused on seeds, organic products and exports.
According to the ministry, around 70,000 cooperative societies have been associated with these institutions.In Uttar Pradesh, the minister said more than 54 lakh new members have joined cooperatives through the state’s membership drive, including around 17.5 lakh farmers. He described the membership expansion as a significant development for the cooperative sector.
The state currently has around 42,000 cooperative societies, according to the ministry. Around 6,300 PACS are undergoing computerisation in Uttar Pradesh, while work is also being undertaken to digitise agricultural and rural cooperative banking units.
The ministry said more than 1,200 new multi-purpose PACS, dairy, fisheries and other cooperative societies have been formed in Uttar Pradesh since April 2026, bringing nearly one lakh additional members into the cooperative network.
The state is also expanding the range of services offered through PACS. Around 5,200 Common Service Centres are operating through PACS, while nearly 7,000 multi-purpose PACS are functioning as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendras.
Another 161 are operating as Jan Aushadhi Kendras, according to the ministry.Mohol also said that 16 district cooperative banks in the state had been revived with financial assistance of around Rs 307 crore.
The expansion of Bharat Taxi and the launch of new digital platforms are part of the government’s broader effort to increase the use of technology and cooperative institutions in rural and urban economic activities.
