India’s tax probe reveals foreign-driven agendas – media

An investigation into NGOs with links to US billionaire George Soros has shown a coordinated effort to undermine development projects 

A probe by India’s Income Tax Department into five major nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the country has reportedly unearthed evidence that they used foreign funding for activities aimed at stalling economic and development projects. 

According to a report in Indian Express, the probe was launched after searches were conducted by tax authorities in September 2022 at the Indian offices of fine NGOs – Oxfam, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Environics Trust, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, and Care India Solution for Sustainable Development. 

After conducting raids a year later, tax authorities issued notices to the NGOs consisting of hundreds of pages and including various agreements, financial statements, emails, and minutes from board meetings in support of allegations against the organizations. 

The NGOs are suspected of acting in contravention of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which regulates the acceptance and utilization of foreign contributions or foreign funds by certain individuals or associations. According to the report, over 75% of the funding for four of the five NGOs came from foreign sources over a five-year span. 

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The tax department has alleged that the NGOs are “working in concert,” highlighting that they are “interconnected” in terms of funding and agendas and their key figures are “interlinked.”

The tax department claimed to have found evidence of a coordinated effort by foreign organizations to financially back Indian NGOs and accused them of orchestrating paid protests to impede critical public infrastructure and development projects that are in India’s national interest. Indian Express particularly mentioned efforts aimed at projects by the country’s two major conglomerates – the Adani Group and JSW Group.

Notably, Oxfam, which has been under investigation in India and whose license to receive funds from abroad was revoked by New Delhi in 2022, is funded by US billionaire investor George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. Soros has publicly criticized the links between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani, the chairman of the Adani Group. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in 2023, the US philanthropist claimed Modi and Adani are “close allies; their fate is intertwined” and that trouble for the conglomerate would “significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government.” The Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) then lashed out at Soros, accusing him of trying to undermine India’s democracy.

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Open Society Foundation also backed an investigation into alleged stock market manipulation by the Adani conglomerate, which was revealed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an international investigative platform known for its work on the ‘Panama Papers’ and ‘Pandora Papers’. 

Another prominent think tank, CPR, whose FCRA license was cancelled earlier this year, faces charges of mismanaging foreign donations, with the tax department asserting that the NGO is primarily focused on litigation rather than research, in contrast to its stated objectives. CPR has previously been accused of funding local protests and legal battles against coal mining projects.