Foreign funds pour in; 3,000 NGOs get over Rs. 22,000 cr.

As of July 2016, 33,091 NGOs were registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, which regulates foreign funding to these bodies.

August 03, 2016 01:21 am | Updated October 18, 2016 12:56 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

A total of 3,068 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) received foreign funding above Rs. 22,000 crore in 2014-15, according to government data presented in response to a question in Parliament.

These are NGOs who reported receiving more than Rs. 1 crore from foreign donors. This amount was 83.3 per cent (nearly double) more than the Rs. 12,000 crore received by 2,301 such NGOs during 2013-14. As much as Rs. 7,300 crore — or 33 per cent of the total — went to NGOs based in Delhi and Tamil Nadu alone.

In fact, 80 per cent of this funding went to NGOs based in seven States — Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal.

As of July 2016, 33,091 NGOs were registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, which regulates foreign funding to these bodies.

Delhi, T.N. NGOs get chunk of foreign funds

The total funds received from abroad during the last three years and the current year is Rs. 51,000 crore, the Home Ministry said in response to a question in Parliament last week.

“Delhi has always been the top recipient as many international charities are registered in the capital and funds are then passed on to other States. Similarly, Maharashtra figures [high] on the list as many organisations register in Bombay,” Mathew Cherian, Chairperson of Voluntary Action Network India told The Hindu .

Granular data with details of funders and recipients is not available after 2011-12. In that year, the highest foreign contribution was received by the World Vision of India, Tamil Nadu, (Rs. 233.38 crore), followed by the Believers Church India, Kerala (Rs. 190.05 crore), Rural Development Trust, Andhra Pradesh (Rs. 144.39 crore), Indian Society Of Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, Delhi (Rs. 130.77 crore) and Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi (Rs. 130.31 crore).

Faith-based charities tend to attract more foreign funding, Mr. Cherian said. “Southern States get more foreign money due to the presence of Christian organisations,” he added.

U.S., U.K. and Germany were among the top donor countries in 2011-12.

The highest amount of foreign donor money was utilised for rural development, followed by the welfare of children, construction and maintenance of schools and colleges and research, the annual FCRA report of 2011-12 said.

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