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| India Inc gives millions to Clinton foundation |
| BS Reporters / New Delhi/Mumbai Dec 20, 2008, 00:29 IST |
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 CII, Mittal, Ranbaxy, Suzlon & MP Amar Singh among major donors.
Samajwadi Party General Secretary and Member of Parliament Amar Singh, steel baron Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, businessmen Ajit Gulabchand and the late Lalit Suri, companies like Reliance, Ranbaxy, Iffco and Suzlon and the Confederation of Indian Industry have all made large contributions to the foundation set up by former US President Bill Clinton.
The William J Clinton Foundation on Thursday released the list of its donors as part of an agreement to allay concerns about potential conflicts if Senator Hillary Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state in the Obama administration. The foundation has raised over $492 million since its inception in 2001 with the state aim of fighting poverty, disease and climate change.
The list does not mention the date the donations were made or how much the donors gave, though it buckets them in broad categories. Singh, Mittal and Suzlon Energy fall in the third-largest category of $1-5 million.
The disclosure could raise some uncomfortable questions at home. For instance, while filing his Rajya Sabha nomination papers, Singh had last month disclosed that his net worth was Rs 37 crore ($7.4 million).
In the Lok Sabha, some opposition members tried to raise the issue but Speaker Somnath Chatterjee asked them to give proper notice. The matter is, however, likely to gather steam in the days to come with opposition parties raising the demand for a probe into the donations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party demanded that Singh must come clear on this donation. “The country is entitled to know if the mandatory Reserve Bank of India clearance was obtained. Singh should also tell us the source of this fund. Has it been accounted for in his income tax returns?" said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The Left parties were guarded in their reaction. “We are not asking for any probe. But if the government feels the necessity, it can always look into the funding pattern of the donations," said Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo Member Sitaram Yechury.
Singh on his part declined to comment on the issue. "I don't react to speculative reports," he told reporters outside Parliament. Privately, he admitted to some political leaders that he had indeed collected money from some well-wishers in India and donated it to the foundation but his name was put on the list by mistake.
The foundation is learnt to have notified the donors about 10 days ago that their names would be put on the web and media reports said there were no objections.
In the US, policy wonks raised concerns that the disclosure could complicate matters for President-elect Barack Obama as Hillary Clinton would be perceived close to India.
Singh, in fact, had travelled to the US to lobby for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in September and had dined with Hillary Clinton in New York. Later, he had said that Democrats would not oppose the deal which was approved shortly afterwards.
Some companies came clean on the donations. “We have been sponsoring the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting for the last three years. The sponsorship has been more than $350,000 every year and is primarily for brand promotion,” a Suzlon Energy executive said.
“Since it is not a donation, it does not require any RBI permission. Also, individual business promotion expenses do not require disclosures.”
A media release from Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) said Gulabchand, its chairman and managing director, had donated $200,000 to the Clinton Global Initiative during its annual meeting in New York during September 26 to 28, 2007.
The foundation and HCC have decided to provide HIV/AIDS educational programmes and medical support in and around HCC project sites, specifically in Jammu & Kashmir.
Iffco Chairman& Managing Director US Awasthi said the donation was part of the fertiliser company’s corporate social responsibility. “We had donated over $10,000 to the Clinton Foundation last year. Outside India, we do our humanitarian work through renowned bodies like the Clinton Foundation,” he said.
Ranbaxy, which in the last few years has received two orders from the foundation, declined to comment. So did Reliance Industries and CII.
On the list of donors were countries like Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar and Taiwan, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, celebrities like Barbara Streisand and news agencies like Thomson Reuters Bloomberg LP.
“Since it is not a donation, it does not require any RBI permission. Also, individual business promotion expenses do not require disclosures.”
A media release from Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) said Gulabchand, its chairman and managing director, had donated $200,000 to the Clinton Global Initiative during its annual meeting in New York during September 26 to 28, 2007.
The foundation and HCC have decided to provide HIV/AIDS educational programmes and medical support in and around HCC project sites, specifically in Jammu & Kashmir.
Iffco Chairman& Managing Director US Awasthi said the donation was part of the fertiliser company’s corporate social responsibility. “We had donated over $10,000 to the Clinton Foundation last year. Outside India, we do our humanitarian work through renowned bodies like the Clinton Foundation,” he said. Ranbaxy, which in the last few years has received two orders from the foundation, declined to comment. So did Reliance Industries and CII.
On the list of donors were countries like Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar and Taiwan, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, celebrities like Barbara Streisand and news agencies like Thomson Reuters Bloomberg LP.
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