Govt moves amended FCRA in Parliament; designated authority to take over, run assets

The Centre on Wednesday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the foreign funding law, proposing the creation of a “designated authority” empowered to take over, manage, and transfer or sell assets created from foreign funds when an organisation’s registration is cancelled, surrendered, or not renewed.The Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Bill, 2026, also proposes to reduce the maximum imprisonment for violations of foreign funding laws from five years to one year, and to fix timelines for the utilisation of foreign funds received under the prior permission category. Introducing the bill, Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai asserted that “the Modi government will not tolerate any misutilisation of foreign funding and will take strong action against such elements”. The existing Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010, regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions and foreign hospitality to ensure that such inflows do not adversely affect national interest, public order or national security. The law came into force on May 1, 2011, and has been amended in 2016, 2018 and 2020. According to data from the ministry of home affairs (MHA), around 16,000 associations are currently registered under FCRA, collectively receiving approximately ₹22,000 crore annually.