IT firms spend more on lobbying in 2013

Overall lobbying spend by corporate sees decline, says US-based research group

Even as the overall spending on corporate lobbying in the US came down marginally in 2013, such spending by information technology companies went up close to six per cent when compared with the previous year, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a US-based not-for-profit research group.

The report said that global IT companies spent around $133 million on lobbying with the US government agencies in 2013 when the overall lobbying spend during the the same period came down to $3.21 billion as against $3.31 billion in the previous year.

Among the IT companies, internet giant Google spent the highest of $14 million followed by around $10.5 million by Microsoft Corporation, the report said. Oracle and Hewlett-Packard spent around $7.7 and $6.9 million during the same period respectively.

Among the Indian firms, while India's largest IT services company Tata Councultancy Services forked out $70,000, Wipro spent around $440,000 in 2013 for lobbying. However, Nasdaq-listed Cognizant which has significant offshore delivery presence in India spent around $1.37 million on lobbying last year. The name of Infosys, India's second largest IT services company was however not there in the list of the top spenders on lobbying.

Sector wise, Pharmaceuticals/Health Products companies were the top spender on lobbying at $225.7 million followed by Insurance and Oil & Gas at $153 million and $144.8 million respectively. Interestingly, most other sectors spent lesser amount on lobbying in 2013 as compared to previous years.