Washington, Aug. 8: The Indian government has cut down by a whopping over 97 per cent on its lobbying expenses in the US, as the spending incurred for such activities fell to below $5,000 in the second quarter of 2010.
In the second quarter of the current year, or between April and June 2010, the Indian government spent less than $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 $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 $5,000 on lobbying expenses for India during April-June 2010 period.
In comparison, BGR had spent a total of $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 $700,000 for lobbying on behalf of the Indian government, while the corresponding figures for years 2008, 2007 and 2006 were $630,000, $720,000 and $640,000. —