Indian govt cuts down heavily on US lobbying

In the second quarter of the current year, or between April and June 2010, the Indian government spent less than USD 5,000 (little over Rs two lakh) on lobbying activities with the US lawmakers on issues like the bilateral ties between the two countries.

This marks a sharp decline of over 97 per cent from USD 180,000 (more than Rs 82 lakh) of lobbying expenses incurred by the Indian government in the US during the first quarter of 2010, according to the disclosure report filed by Republic of India's lobbyists with the US administration.

The decline seems to be mainly due to the Indian government limiting its lobbying activities to the bilateral US-India relationship during the second quarter, as against the Indo-US nuclear deal being a major lobbying issue in the recent quarters.

According to the lobbying disclosure reports, which needs to be mandatorily filed every quarter with the US government, the Indian government's lobbyist Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR) spent a total of less than USD 5,000 on lobbying expenses for India during April-June 2010 period.

In comparison, BGR had spent a total of USD 180,000 for lobbying with the US lawmakers and government departments on behalf of the Indian government during January-March 2010, the disclosure report shows.

In the entire 2009, the BGR had spent a total of USD 700,000 for lobbying on behalf of the Indian government, while the corresponding figures for years 2008, 2007 and 2006 were USD 630,000, USD 720,000 and USD 640,000 respectively.

While the maximum lobbying expenses incurred by the Indian government was in 2007 at USD 720,000, India began lobbying with the US lawmakers in 2005, when it incurred a total cost of USD 240,000 for the same.

According to the lobbying disclosure reports, Indian government lobbied with the US Senate, the US House of Representatives as also the Departments of Defence and Commerce in the first quarter of 2010, while it was limited to the US Senate in the second quarter. This probably led to the sharp decline in the lobbying expenses.

In the previous quarters, Indian government has been incurring heavy lobbying expenses primarily on account of the nuclear deal signed last year between the two countries.

The high-profile lobbyist firm BGR has been lobbying on 'foreign relations' issues for the Indian government ever since 2005 and the specific issues include "bilateral US-India relationship and issues related to civil nuclear agreement".

For the Indian government, BGR has lobbied in the past with the US House of Representatives, Senate, Departments of Commerce, Defence, Labour and State, Executive Office of President, National Security Council (NSC) and US Trade Representative.

The Indian government has been lobbying among the American lawmakers since 2005 on issues related to nuclear deal and bilateral Indo-US relationships and its total spending has crossed USD three million (over Rs 15 crore).

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then US president George Bush had first announced their intention to enter into a nuclear agreement in July 2005.

The first instance of lobbying-related payment was made by the Indian government in the last quarter of 2005. BGR "provided guidance and counsel with regard to issues impacting bilateral relations between the US and the Republic of India, including a potential civil nuclear agreement."