NEW DELHI—India's government is set to move the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further scrutiny, after opposition parties and Christian organisations raised concerns over provisions governing foreign-funded non-governmental organisations, officials and reports said on Wednesday.
The proposed referral would delay consideration of the legislation in the Lok Sabha and allow lawmakers from both houses of parliament to examine its provisions before it returns for further legislative action. The government has indicated that it is open to wider parliamentary scrutiny of the bill, which was introduced in the lower house on March 25.
The bill seeks to amend the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, or FCRA, which governs the receipt and use of foreign donations by individuals, associations and non-governmental organisations in India. Under the proposed changes, a framework would be established for supervising and managing foreign-funded assets when an organisation's FCRA registration is cancelled, surrendered, expires or is not renewed.
The proposed legislation would also create a designated authority with powers relating to the management, transfer or disposal of assets created from foreign contributions. It would reduce the maximum imprisonment for certain FCRA violations from five years to one year, according to legislative analysis by PRS Legislative Research.
Opposition parties and Christian groups have objected to provisions they say could give the government excessive control over organisations receiving overseas funding. The Tamil Nadu assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday calling on the federal government to withdraw the bill in its current form. Churches in Mizoram also held a protest in Aizawl, warning about possible consequences for religious institutions if the legislation is enacted unchanged.
The government has defended the proposed changes, saying the FCRA provides a legal framework to ensure that foreign contributions are properly received, used and accounted for under Indian law. Government representatives have also rejected suggestions that the amendments are intended to restrict legitimate charitable activity.
The FCRA has long been a major regulatory mechanism for organisations receiving overseas donations. The proposed amendments come amid broader debate over the role of foreign funding in India's civil society sector and the government's powers to regulate such funding.
The bill remains pending in the Lok Sabha. A referral to a Joint Parliamentary Committee would move the legislation into a further scrutiny phase before any subsequent parliamentary consideration.
