Over 15,000 NGOs granted FCRA licences, reveals MHA report

More than 15,000 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) were granted licences under the Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) while more than 7,500 were denied licences by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) during 2023-24, according to the ministry's annual report. As many as 15,638 NGOs were cleared for certificate licences while 7,848 applications were denied, the report stated.

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011, have been amended vide in 2023 to capture the data of fixed and moveable assets of associations created out of the foreign contribution, the report noted. The FCRA licence of leading think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR) was among the 2,013 NGOs whose "renewal" applications have been rejected while "registration" of 945 NGOs was declined. Due to "change of committee members", 4,162 associations lost their FCRA licences while 257 and 471 lost the licences due to "prior permission" and "hospitality" respectively, taking the total number of refusals to 7,848. According to official sources, several prominent NGOs have lost their FCRA licences in the latest round of scrutiny while 387 new FCRA registration licences have been issued to NGOs till December 31, 2024.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's Meer Foundation, Olympian Abhinav Bindra Foundation, Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG India) headed by former Rajya Sabha member Dr Anil Kumar Jain and Vedanta-backed Cairn Foundation, among others have been granted licences.

As many as 30 new NGOs have been issued FCRA licences in the new year so far. The home ministry last week granted a three-month extension to the validity of the FCRA registration of NGOs, renewal applications of which are pending till March 31, 2025. The notice further cautioned NGOs whose renewal application has been denied or FCRA licence cancelled that they are not eligible to receive or utilise foreign grants.