Just 28% of NGOs, associations ever registered under FCRA are currently active: MHA
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On Tuesday, July 7, the Ministry of Home Affairs released data regarding the FCRA to reveal that only 27.7% of all NGOs and associations ever registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010, remain active today, while the licences of the remaining 72.3% have either been cancelled or are deemed to have expired.
According to data maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) since 2012, a total of 52,159 organisations have been granted FCRA registration to receive foreign contributions. However, only 14,455 currently hold an active licence, making them eligible to legally receive foreign funds under the provisions of the 2011 FCRA Rules. Registrations of 22,498 NGOs have been cancelled over the years, with the largest wave occurring after 2015, when more than 10,000 organisations lost their licences.
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In addition, the registrations of 15,206 NGOs have been classified as deemed expired. This follows amendments to the FCRA framework that introduced stricter compliance requirements aimed at improving financial transparency, ensuring foreign funds are used only for declared objectives, and tightening oversight over administrative expenditure and governance.
Many organisations either failed to comply with the revised regulations or chose not to renew their registrations after the mandatory five-year validity period. State-wise MHA data on active, cancelled, and deemed-expired FCRA registrations places Tamil Nadu at the top in terms of the overall number of registered NGOs.
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Tamil Nadu currently has 2,104 active NGOs, while 2,865 registrations have been cancelled and 1,774 have lapsed due to non-renewal. The state has historically hosted a significant number of NGOs, some of which were involved in protests against infrastructure projects such as the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. An Intelligence Bureau assessment at the time alleged that certain foreign-linked non-profit organisations had supported protests intended to obstruct development projects and economic growth. Several NGOs were subsequently stripped of their FCRA registrations for violations of the Act, including provisions prohibiting foreign-funded organisations from engaging in activities considered prejudicial to India's national interest.
Maharashtra ranks second in terms of active FCRA-registered organisations. Out of 5,440 NGOs registered under the Act, 1,583 remain active, while 2,211 registrations have been cancelled and 1,646 have been deemed expired since 2012.
When viewed as a percentage of total registrations, Bihar records the highest share of NGOs with cancelled or deemed-expired licences at 85.2%. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh (83.7%), Nagaland (83.3%), Tripura (80%), Maharashtra (78.9%), Manipur (78.6%), and West Bengal (78.2%).
Notably, the proportion of cancelled or expired registrations exceeds the national average in all but one of the north-eastern states. While MHA data does not classify NGOs based on religion, states such as Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur have sizeable Christian populations and host a large number of Christian charitable organisations, many of which have historically received foreign funding under the FCRA framework.