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Japanese India’s Parliament is considering a sweeping amendment to the country’s foreign-funding law that critics warn could give the government unprecedented authority over the assets of NGOs, including Christian ministries, hospitals, schools, and charitable organizations that rely on foreign donations.
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in India’s Lok Sabha on March 25, would expand the government’s authority over organizations that lose, surrender, or fail to renew their registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA). The proposed law would allow a government-appointed “Designated Authority” to take control of foreign-funded assets and potentially transfer or sell those assets.
Although the Indian government argues the amendment is intended to strengthen oversight of foreign contributions and prevent misuse of funds, religious freedom advocates warn that the law could further restrict the ability of religious organizations — particularly Christian ministries — to operate freely in India.
The amendment comes after years of increasing scrutiny of foreign-funded organizations in India. Since 2010, more than 22,000 organizations have had their FCRA registrations canceled, while more than 15,000 additional organizations have had their registrations expire without renewal. Today, only about 14,000 organizations remain active under the FCRA framework.
For many Christian organizations, which often operate schools, hospitals, orphanages, and community development programs, the ability to receive foreign donations is essential to maintaining their ministries.
Understanding India’s FCRA System
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act was first enacted in 1976 and was substantially revised in 2010. The law regulates how individuals, associations, and organizations receive and use foreign contributions.
Organizations receiving foreign funding must obtain registration from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the government body responsible for administering and enforcing the law. FCRA registration must be renewed every five years, giving the government significant authority over which organizations may continue to operate.
Throughout the years, India has introduced increasingly restrictive amendments to the FCRA. In 2020, the government banned organizations from transferring foreign funds to other NGOs, required foreign contributions to be received through a designated bank account in New Delhi, and reduced the percentage of foreign funds organizations could spend on administrative expenses.
The proposed 2026 amendment would go further by changing what happens when an organization loses its FCRA status.
Under the bill, an organization’s assets created through foreign contributions could be transferred to a Designated Authority if the organization’s registration is canceled, surrendered, or not renewed. The authority would have the power to manage those assets and, if the organization’s registration is not restored within a prescribed period, permanently retain them.
The bill would also apply to assets created partly through foreign contributions. This means that organizations that used a combination of domestic and foreign donations to construct facilities could face uncertainty over whether the government could take over those assets.
The amendment also expands potential liability for organizational leaders, including directors, trustees, office bearers, and others responsible for management decisions.
Critics argue that these provisions create significant risks for civil society organizations, particularly those involved in advocacy, humanitarian assistance, education, healthcare, and religious activity.
Growing Restrictions on Christian Ministries
India’s Christian community has long relied on charitable organizations to provide essential services throughout the country. Christian hospitals treat millions of patients each year. Christian schools educate students from diverse religious backgrounds. Churches and ministries provide food assistance, disaster relief, and support for vulnerable communities.
However, these organizations increasingly operate under intense scrutiny.
International Christian Concern (ICC) has previously documented how India’s FCRA system has been used to restrict the operations of Christian organizations. ICC itself has experienced the impact of FCRA-related restrictions on its ministry in India.
The proposed amendment would intensify these concerns by raising the stakes of losing FCRA registration. Under the new framework, the loss of a registration could potentially threaten not only an organization’s ability to receive foreign funding but also its existing infrastructure and long-term ministry operations.
For Christian organizations, the threat is especially serious because accusations of illegal religious conversion have increasingly been used as justification for government action and public hostility.
Indian officials have frequently claimed that foreign-funded Christian groups use charitable activities to facilitate forced conversions. Religious freedom advocates, however, argue that these accusations often rely on broad definitions of conversion and have been used to target legitimate expressions of Christian faith and humanitarian service.
The FCRA debate comes amid a broader deterioration in religious freedom conditions for Christians and other minorities in India.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has repeatedly recommended that India be designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to what it describes as systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. USCIRF has pointed to the spread of anti-conversion laws, rising mob violence, and government actions that have contributed to a hostile environment for religious minorities.
Broader Patterns of Religious Restriction
Restrictions affecting Christians in India often follow patterns previously experienced by Muslims.
In recent years, Muslims have faced growing challenges related to citizenship policies, religious expression, property rights, and accusations of disloyalty or extremism. Similar narratives have increasingly been directed toward Christians, particularly through claims that churches and ministries are attempting to alter India’s religious demographics.
More than a dozen Indian states now enforce anti-conversion laws that prohibit religious conversion through force, fraud, or coercion. While such protections against coercion are recognized internationally, critics argue that India’s laws are often written and enforced in ways that criminalize ordinary religious activity.
Christians have faced arrests, church disruptions, and mob attacks based on allegations of forced conversion, even when evidence of coercion is absent.
For India’s Christian community, the debate over the FCRA Amendment is not only about financial regulation. It represents a broader question about whether religious organizations can continue serving their communities without fear that government action could threaten their existence.
As Parliament considers the amendment, religious freedom advocates warn that protecting civil society requires ensuring that laws designed to regulate foreign funding do not become tools for restricting legitimate religious expression and humanitarian service.
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