The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started an investigation into funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID has been criticised by the Trump administration for promoting a "left, liberal, and woke" agenda abroad. Now, ED is looking into its payments to an Indian company as part of a larger probe into hedge fund operator George Soros’s financial activities in India.

ED’s investigation into Bengaluru-based companies

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating three companies in Bengaluru for possibly breaking India's foreign money rules under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). These companies are said to have received Rs 25 crore from the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF). This fund is a part of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), which was started by George Soros.

One of these companies, ASAR Social Impact Advisors, also got Rs 8 crore from the US government agency USAID as foreign funding in 2022–23. ED is now looking into why these payments were made and whether they followed the rules.

What is ASAR’s link to USAID?

According to sources, ASAR told ED that the USAID funding was a reimbursement for services provided to a Delhi-based public policy think tank, the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW). CEEW, as per its website, works on "understanding global challenges and implications for India's development."

CEEW has well-known figures as its trustees, including Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, and Suresh Prabhu, a former minister in the Modi government. However, ED found that ASAR officials could not clearly explain the nature of services provided to CEEW or why USAID was involved in the payments.

Besides ASAR, two other Bengaluru-based companies—Rootbridge Services Pvt Ltd and Rootbridge Academy Ltd—received funds from SEDF. ED is investigating why these payments were made and whether they were legal.

Concerns over Soros’s funding in India

In 2016, the Indian Home Ministry placed Open Society Foundations (OSF) under the ‘prior reference category’. This means OSF must get prior approval from the government before sending funds to any Indian non-profit. ED is now checking if OSF followed this rule when funding ASAR and other entities.

The agency is also investigating whether Soros has funded Indian civil rights organisations, think tanks, and other groups under the guise of foreign direct investments.

 

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