INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE FUNDING TO NO LONGER CARRY FOREIGN SOURCE TAG

The International Solar Alliance (ISA), a global body for cooperation amongst solar resource-rich countries, will no longer be classified as a foreign source of funding for non-governmental organizations in India. The decision was taken as part of India’s efforts to assist and help achieve the goal of increasing the use of solar energy, officials said. The United Nations, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, International Labour Organisation, and International Monetary Fund are amongst 109 organizations exempted by India from foreign funding licences. The previous addition to the exempted list was Global Development Network in June 2011, officials said. NGOs seeking foreign funding are required to obtain licences from the Union home ministry and are required to state the purpose of the funds being brought into the country.

The Central government, exercising the power conferred by the Foreign Contribution [Regulation] Act, 2010, specified that the International Solar Alliance shall not be treated as ‘foreign source,’ the home ministry said in a notification on April 24, 2019. According to the order, funds received by NGOs and other entities from the ISA will not be governed by the FCRA. Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and former French President Mr François Hollande had unveiled the ISA in 2015 in a bid to combine the efforts of both countries to work against climate change and adopt renewable energy as a replacement for fossil fuels blamed for contributing to global warming.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com