US Congressman Riley Moore has criticised proposed amendments to India's FCRA law, warning that they could enable government takeovers of churches and strain bilateral relations with the United States.
India's MHA defended proposed Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, by citing comparable foreign funding laws in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, emphasizing global concerns about unregulated foreign money affecting democratic institutions.
As of 2012, 52,159 NGOs were licensed under the FCRA, but only 14,455 remain active. Over 72% have had their licenses cancelled or deemed expired, with Tamil Nadu having the highest number of active NGOs and Bihar the highest percentage of cancelled/expired licenses.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a revamped FCRA portal for NGOs and an e-OCI card for the Indian diaspora. The FCRA portal digitizes applications and allows real-time monitoring of foreign contributions, while the e-OCI card offers online services for 50 lakh OCI holders.
