New Delhi: The number of active NGOs registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act has halved in the last decade, even as funds received from abroad have gone up, with Christian associations accounting for nearly three-fourths of the total Rs 1841 crore in 2024-25. This was conveyed by the Ministry of Home Affairs at the first meeting of the Joint Committee of Parliament, set up to examine the contentious FCRA amendment bill which proposes tighter government oversight on non-governmental organisations and foreign funding in the country.
A team of MHA officials, led by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, told the JPC, headed by BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal, that there are 14,466 FCRA-registered active NGOs across 15 states, with Tamil Nadu leading the pack with 2102 such associations, followed by Maharashtra (1578), Karnataka (1355), Delhi (1218), Andhra Pradesh (1022) and Kerala (1013). All associations receiving foreign funding mandatorily have to register under the FCRA with MHA acting as the nodal authority.
There were 29022 FCRA-registered active NGOs in 2015. The funds received by the FCRA-registered NGOs from abroad went up to Rs 22974 crore in 2024-25 from Rs 17832 crore in 2015 16. During the same period, the number of active NGOs dipped from 29022 to 14466. In 2024-25, among the top donor countries, the USA contributed the maximum — Rs 12,113 crore. The United Kingdom was a distant second with Rs 2414 crore, followed by Germany (Rs 1782 crore), Switzerland (Rs 733 crore), Singapore (Rs 669 crore).
Of the total amount received in 2024-25, Rs 5150 crore went to religious associations. While the Christian associations received the bulk of the funds in 2024-25 at Rs 1345 crore, Hindu NGOs followed with Rs 328 crore. Associations termed as non-religious received Rs 60 crore during the same financial year, followed by Buddhist NGOs with Rs 51 crore, while Muslim groups drew Rs 19 crore. Among the states and Union territories having associations receiving foreign funds in 2024 25, Delhi topped the chart with Rs 5834 crore, followed by Karnataka (Rs 3164 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 2385 cr) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 2313 cr). While Christian associations received the lions share of foreign contributions in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Hindu NGOs received the bulk of the amount in Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu.