FCRA amendments are a sovereign step; U.S. has similar laws: India's envoy
India's Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, has defended the recent amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), saying they are aimed at bringing greater transparency and requiring organisations to receive foreign funds through a laid-down process.
In a series of posts on social media platform X on Sunday, August 9, 2026, Kwatra said regulating foreign financial flows in public and political spaces is a sovereign step driven by national security concerns. He cited similar laws in other democracies, including the United States.
“The U.S. has had FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) since 1938 and FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) since 2010. Australia legislated in 2018, Canada in 2024. The UK's scheme came into force in July 2025. The EU is legislating now,” he said.
His remarks came days after a U.S. lawmaker expressed concern that the FCRA amendments would allow the Indian government to take control of churches and charities. Kwatra said that when an organisation's registration is cancelled or surrendered, foreign contributions and assets created from them already vest in a State Government authority under a provision in force since 2010.
“What the 2026 Bill adds is a designated authority to safeguard those assets — and a way back. If the organisation restores its registration, all assets and unused funds are returned in full,” Kwatra said.
He also explained the safeguards for places of worship. “Where a cancelled association has created property connected to a place of worship, that property goes to another FCRA-registered association of the same faith to ensure continuity of worship,” he said.
The Ambassador dismissed apprehensions that the new law aims to cut off foreign aid to civil society. He noted that tens of thousands of associations are registered under FCRA and routinely receive foreign funds for health, education, disaster relief, research and humanitarian work.
“India has over three million NGOs, and only a bare fraction of these, 14,450, hold FCRA registration. Thus, the overwhelming majority of civil society organisations are entirely outside the Act,” Kwatra said.
Providing historical context, he said India first enacted FCRA in 1976 and brought in a more modern framework through amendments in 2010. The Act was further strengthened by amendments in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
“The 2026 Bill and Rules are the next step in the same direction: more transparency, better governance, clearer rules,” he said.
Kwatra stressed that regulating foreign financial flows in public and political spaces is a sovereign step driven by national security concerns. “It is an accepted feature of modern governance in many democracies around the world,” he said.
He also rejected suggestions that the FCRA amendments target a particular community. “Nothing could be farther from it. The Act applies uniformly to all organisations regardless of religion, community or ideology. Faith-based welfare activities, including religious education, maintenance of places of worship, and charitable work by organisations of every faith, continue to be eligible for foreign funding,” he said.
The FCRA Bill, 2026 seeks to empower the government to create a “Designated Authority” to take over the management of foreign contributions and assets created using foreign contributions when an organisation's FCRA registration is cancelled, surrendered, or ceases because it is not renewed. The bill also states that in case of assets that are a place of worship, the Authority must ensure that its religious character is maintained.
