Centre cancels foreign funding license of top policy think tank

Government had suspended CPR's licence last February for suspected violation of India's FCRA by using the funds for 'undesirable purposes'. CPR said it was in 'complete compliance' with the law and will seek remedy in every way possible.

New Delhi: The Centre has cancelled the license of Centre for Policy Research (CPR) to obtain international funding, the interior ministry said, about a year after it suspended the top think tank's permit for allegedly violating norms for foreign grants.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had suspended CPR's licence last February for suspected violation of India's foreign contribution regulation act (FCRA) by using the funds for "undesirable purposes", according to a Delhi High Court order.

The interior ministry informed the court last week that the license was canceled on January 10.

CPR, a not-for-profit organisation which conducts research on a range of policy issues in India, said it was in "complete compliance" with the law and will seek remedy in every way possible.

"The basis of this decision is incomprehensible and disproportionate, and some of the reasons given challenge the very basis of the functioning of a research institution," CPR chief Yamini Aiyar said in a statement.

Thousands of civil society groups in India have had their licences to receive overseas donations cancelled since 2014 after Modi's government tightened surveillance on non-profit groups regulated under the FCRA.

Home Minister, Amit Shah, told parliament in 2022 that the government will take strict action against groups that planned to use foreign funds to change the country's demographics.

New Delhi did not renew Oxfam India's FCRA registration when it lapsed at the end of 2021 and the country's federal investigative agency started a probe into the charity on allegations of violating foreign funding regulations.

CPR's troubles with India's government date back 16 months when tax officials first conducted a survey in its office in September 2022.

"The actions have had a debilitating impact on the institution's ability to function by choking all sources of funding," Aiyar said.

"This has undermined the institution's ability to pursue its well established objective of producing high quality, globally recognised research on policy matters," he added.