Religious liberty advocates are urging Indian lawmakers to reject proposed legislation that would expand government control over foreign-funded organizations, potentially affecting Christian churches, schools, hospitals, clinics, media ministries and humanitarian groups.
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced in March in the Lok Sabha, the lower chamber of India’s Parliament. Because the proposal amends financial regulations, the Lok Sabha could approve it without obtaining consent from the upper house.
Under the measure, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs would be authorized to appoint an authority to take possession of an NGO’s property when its registration is revoked, expires, or remains unresolved due to administrative delays.
The designated authority could manage or sell the organization’s assets, with the government retaining the proceeds permanently. Such action could reportedly occur without a court hearing or independent judicial review.
The proposal would amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, commonly known as the FCRA, which was enacted in 1976 and requires organizations receiving overseas donations to register with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Religious freedom advocates say successive amendments have steadily increased restrictions on foreign-funded groups.
The Washington, D.C.-based Religious Freedom Institute is calling on members of Parliament to oppose the legislation as lawmakers convene for the annual Monsoon Session.
David Trimble, president of the institute, said the freedom to communicate and promote one’s religious beliefs is an essential part of religious liberty. He warned that organizations can now lose their FCRA licenses based solely on accusations that they are engaged in religious conversion.
Approximately 16,000 NGOs maintained active FCRA registrations as of April 2024, while nearly 21,000 organizations had already lost their licenses, according to figures cited by the institute.
More recent government data indicate that the number of actively licensed organizations has dropped below 14,500. Meanwhile, more than 22,000 licenses have been canceled, and over 15,000 organizations have been classified by the Ministry of Home Affairs as “ceased.”
Writing for RealClearPolitics, Trimble estimated that more than 22,500 registrations had been canceled and another 15,100 had been designated as “expired.”
Several prominent Christian humanitarian organizations have faced restrictions under the FCRA in recent years. Since 2020, Compassion International and World Vision India have lost some or all of their authorization to operate in the country, according to the Religious Freedom Institute.
Two Catholic-affiliated organizations, Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action and the Tamil Nadu Social Service Society, have also been affected by the government’s enforcement of the foreign-funding law.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to raise the issue with Indian officials before Rubio visited the country in May and to press for the amendment’s withdrawal.
Smith argued that stronger relations between the United States and India must include protections allowing religious organizations to serve local communities “without having their assets nationalized.”
“The effect is that, for an error in a single transaction, the entire property of a church, including equipment, land, schools, hospitals, and bank funds, could vest immediately in a government-designated authority, which could then manage, sell, or otherwise dispose of them at will,” Smith wrote.
“Worse, the bill’s ‘vesting’ provisions apply if even a small portion of an asset was financed with foreign contributions — meaning, for example, that the entire assets of a diocese, owning perhaps hundreds of churches, could be seized for an error in processing a single small foreign donation.”
