India Further Restricts Funding of Foreign NGOs

India’s Christian community says federal amendments to the law on foreign funding give the government excessive power over organizations tied to minority religions.

They termed the amendments as “draconian” and “constitutionally suspect.”

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) is the channel through which all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in charitable works receive foreign funding in the country.

A key and contentious feature of the 2026 amendment is the creation of a Designated Authority, notified by the federal government, which will take provisional control of foreign contributions and assets in cases of cancellation, surrender, or cessation of registration. This control extends even to assets that are only partly funded through foreign contributions. The authority is empowered to supervise, manage, and maintain these assets.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has, during the past decade (as of 2024), revoked or suspended the FCRA registrations of more than 20,000 organizations.
Reports indicate that a significant proportion of these NGOs — more than 70% — whose licenses expired as of January 2022 were aligned with Christian programs.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the apex body of the Catholic Church in the country, expressing “grave concern,” has said that the Modi government’s amendments to the FCRA are “dangerous and alarming” in their implications.

In a press statement, the CBCI objected to “clauses that grant sweeping powers to the federal government, allowing it to deny renewal or cancel licenses of organizations. More significantly, the proposed framework would permit a newly constituted authority to assume control over institutions, including their funds, properties, and other assets.”

The CBCI termed such provisions unacceptable, raising serious concerns about fairness, transparency, and accountability.

It questioned the “intent” behind introducing the bill, alleging that it was done unilaterally despite protests from Opposition Parliament Members. The conference called for wider consultation and deliberation on issues affecting fundamental rights.

The FCRA was first amended in 2020, introducing stringent provisions for the renewal and operation of licenses to receive foreign funds. Now, the 2026 amendment introduces more draconian measures, say Christian leaders whose organizations receive funding to run institutes in the fields of education, medicine, and other social spheres.

In 2024, the FCRA registrations of major organizations, including World Vision India, the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), and the Evangelical Fellowship of India, were canceled.

Within three years of the BJP coming to power at the federal level in 2017, Compassion International, based in the U.S., was forced to stop operations in India, and in 2021, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity faced a suspension of its renewal application.

The government of India has stated these actions were taken due to violations of FCRA regulations, such as non-filing of annual returns, failure to meet renewal requirements, or using foreign funds for activities outside their mandate, such as alleged religious conversion.

But most of these cancellations are seen as part of a broader crackdown on compliance with foreign funding rules, with Christian-aligned organizations facing heightened scrutiny.

While introducing the bill on March 25, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai flagged the alleged misuse of foreign funding for religious conversions. “The Modi government will not tolerate any misutilization of foreign funding and will take strong action against such elements,” he said in the lower house of the parliament.

The opposition and civil rights activists, who fear that, once enacted, the sweeping powers could be used to silence organizations.

Critics argue that the new bill, if enacted, could be used selectively against dissenting voices, opposition groups, and minority institutions.

According to media reports, the amendment seeks to tighten the regulatory framework governing foreign funding of nonprofit organizations by plugging what the government describes as operational and legal gaps in the 2010 act.

The amended bill, 2026, significantly tightens its oversight of foreign-funded organizations, proposing the creation of a powerful new authority to seize and manage the assets of nonprofits that lose their license.

This article was originally published on https://persecution.org/2026/04/02/india-further-restricts-funding-of-foreign-ngos/