Tatas step up US lobbying on immigration, education issues

Congressional lobbying records show Tata entities have spent more than Rs 2 crore on their lobbying activities so far in 2013

Salt-to-software conglomerate Tatas appear to have stepped up their lobbying in the US on various matters, including those related to immigration reforms and technical education issues, after remaining inactive on this front for over two years.

According to the latest Lobbying Disclosure Forms filed with the US Senate, Tata America International Corporation and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are among the entities whose lobbyists engaged in lobbying activities in the last quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Both these entities (Tata America International Corp directly and TCS through Banner Public Affairs) had engaged in lobbying activities in the second quarter of 2013 as well, after registering themselves earlier this year.

The Congressional lobbying records show that these Tata entities have spent more than Rs 2 crore on their lobbying activities so far in 2013.

At the same time, another Tata entity, Tata Chemicals North America, terminated its lobbying registration in the US during the second quarter, while it has not reported any lobbying activity after the third quarter of 2010.

Till 2010, Tata Chemicals North America used to be relatively more active on lobbying activities, while a few other Tata entities, such as Tata Sons Ltd and Tata Inc, had also engaged in US lobbying activities in the past. However, they have terminated their respective registrations since then.

The Congressional records show that TCS used to be a registered entity for lobbying in the US earlier as well, but it terminated its past registration way back in August 2005.

Tata Inc's lobbying registration ended in July 2007, while that of Tata Sons ended in January 2011.

As per the latest lobbying disclosure forms, the specific issues on which Tata America International Corp and TCS lobbied during the last quarter included US-India relations, immigration reforms, STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and math) education issues, high-skilled workforce issues.

Lobbying is a legal activity in the US, but all the companies and their lobbyists need to file detailed disclosure reports every quarter.