Mumbai, May 13 -- Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that cooperative housing societies in the state could soon avail loans at concessional rates to redevelop their properties themselves. "We have requested union cooperation minister Amit Shah to see if the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) can provide loans to cooperative housing societies at concessional rates," Fadnavis said while addressing a seminar on challenges before the cooperative sector at the YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar attended the event. Though the NCDC's jurisdiction was limited to rural areas, the union home minister had agreed to expand it to urban areas, and a decision on the state's government plea for loans at concessional rates was expected soon, the chief minister said. "The decision will bring several benefits including loans at concessional rates. It will help housing societies go for self-redevelopment," he stated. Fadnavis accused earlier governments of ignoring the needs of cooperative housing societies and said his government had not only introduced a self-redevelopment scheme but also provided seventeen types of concessions. "We are trying to free housing societies from the claws of builders who have been delaying redevelopment projects and denying monthly rentals (to affected apartment owners)," he said. Fadnavis also said that the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act (MCSA) had become irrelevant as it did not have provisions to cater to future needs and its provisions were the same for different types of cooperative bodies such as banks, sugar mills, spinning mills and housing societies. "The act is good, but it has become old and new provisions need to be incorporated to deal with new challenges," he said, announcing the formation of a committee to study the law in detail and suggest changes. The chief minister also announced the formation of another committee to suggest measures to strengthen existing cooperative bodies. The state government will also be able to undertake financial transactions with cooperative banks, he announced. Sharad Pawar, who addressed the gathering before Fadnavis, expressed concern over the weakening of cooperative bodies in the state and the urgent need to strengthen them. "There was a time when cooperatives accounted for 80% of the sugar mills in Maharashtra and only 20% were privately owned. Now, private sugar mills have shot up to 50%," the veteran leader said. Most of the cooperative banks in the state were in poor financial health, he noted....