An investigation by India's Income Tax Department into five major NGOs has reportedly uncovered evidence suggesting that foreign funding was used to hinder economic and development projects.

The Indian Express reported that the probe began following searches conducted by tax authorities in September 2022 at the Indian offices of Oxfam, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Environics Trust, the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, and the Care India Solution for Sustainable Development.

A year later, after further raids, authorities issued detailed notices to the NGOs, spanning hundreds of pages and including agreements, financial statements, emails, and board meeting minutes to support the allegations.

The NGOs are accused of violating the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which governs the acceptance and use of foreign funds by specific organizations. The report noted that over 75% of the funding for four of the five NGOs came from foreign sources within a five-year period.

The Income Tax Department has accused the NGOs of "working in concert," emphasizing that they are "interconnected" in both funding sources and agendas, with key individuals being "interlinked."

Authorities say to have found evidence of foreign organizations coordinating to financially support Indian NGOs, accusing them of organizing paid protests to block vital public infrastructure and development projects deemed in India's national interest.

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According to The Indian Express, these efforts specifically targeted projects by two major conglomerates, the Adani Group and JSW Group.

Enmity for Modi

Oxfam, one of the NGOs under investigation, had its license to receive foreign funding revoked by New Delhi in 2022. It is funded by US billionaire George Soros' Open Society Foundation.

Soros, a vocal critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ties to Gautam Adani, the Adani Group's chairman, commented at the 2023 Munich Security Conference that Modi and Adani are "close allies; their fate is intertwined," adding that trouble for the conglomerate would "significantly weaken Modi's stranglehold on India's federal government."

Following these remarks, the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Soros of attempting to destabilize India's democracy.

Open Society Foundation also backed an investigation into alleged stock market manipulation by the Adani conglomerate, which was revealed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an international investigative platform known for its work on the ‘Panama Papers' and ‘Pandora Papers'. 

Another prominent think tank, CPR, whose FCRA license was canceled earlier this year, faces charges of mismanaging foreign donations, with the tax department asserting that the NGO is primarily focused on litigation rather than research, in contrast to its stated objectives. CPR has previously been accused of funding local protests and legal battles against coal mining projects.

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