Lok Sabha Question No. 491 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Public Diplomacy Budget
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Manish Tewari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 491 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2022

## PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BUDGET

## 491. SHRI MANISH TEWARI:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the   details   of   Public   Diplomacy   budget   of   MEA   from April   2019 to   30 November 2022, year-wise;

(b) whether the MEA funds Think Tanks, Research Organizations, Foundations for Profit or Non Profit and/or Government/ quasi Government organizations from its Public Diplomacy Budget or any other budgetary head and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of money/funds   given   to   each   think   tank/research organization/   foundation/Government   or quasi Government   organization including   the   specific   activity   for   which   these   funds   are   provided   year-wise/ activity-wise/   Think   Tank/   Research   organization/   Government   or quasi Government  organization-wise   clearly   delineating   the   amount   given   and   the purpose for which it has been given/spent from 01 April 2019 to 30  November 2022; and

(d) whether the MEA has commissioned or proposes to commission any study to ascertain whether this expenditure has helped India's strategic, tactical, or even diplomatic interests, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

(DR. RAJKUMAR RANJAN SINGH)

(a) The details of Public Diplomacy (PD) budget of M/o External Affairs from April 1, 2019 to 30 th November, 2022, year-wise is placed in Annexure-A

(b) & (c) Yes.   The   Policy   Planning   and   Research   (PP&R)   Division   of   MEA supports autonomous bodies such as the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and the Research and Information Systems (RIS). It also supports events, studies,

conferences   and   seminars   by   various   think   tanks   and   institutions.   MEA participates in and supports major conferences including Raisina Dialogue, Indian Ocean Conference, Global Technology Summit, Asia Economic Dialogue and IndiaUS Forum.

Details of money given to various think tanks, research organizations and universities from April 1, 2019 to November 30, 2022 is placed at Annexure B.

(d) MEA regularly assesses the utilization of funds to ensure accountability and optimum results achieved from such outreach.

*****

## ANNEXURE A

## Details of Public Diplomacy (PD) Budget of M/o External Affairs from April, 2019 to 30 th November, 2022.

|   S. No. | Financial Year                         |   Budget Allotted [Final Estimates (FE)] (in crores) |   Expenditure incurred as per O/o Pr. Chief Controller of Accounts (in crores) | Particulars of Expenditure                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|----------|----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 2019-2020                              |                                                18.71 |                                                                          14.72 | The expenditure under PD Budget incurred on: 1. Procurement of books (selected by Book Committee) and other publicity material and their supply in Headquarters and for representation purpose and libraries of Missions/ Posts abroad; 2. Commissioning of short films, documentaries, and other audio-visual material for publicity purpose; 3. Procurement of non-commercial screening rights of Hindi and regional language films and sharing them with Missions/Posts for local screening; 4. Dubbing/Sub-titling of documentary and feature films in foreign language; 5. Purchase and supply of selected audio/video music CDs/DVDs/Pen Drives to Headquarters & Missions/ Posts abroad; etc. 6. Sanctioning funds to Missions/Posts abroad for organizing publicity activities/events etc. From the budget of XPD Division; 7. Public outreach activities like Distinguished Lecture Series etc. |
|        2 | 2020-2021                              |                                                 9.9  |                                                                           7.46 | The expenditure under PD Budget incurred on: 1. Procurement of books (selected by Book Committee) and other publicity material and their supply in Headquarters and for representation purpose and libraries of Missions/ Posts abroad; 2. Commissioning of short films, documentaries, and other audio-visual material for publicity purpose; 3. Procurement of non-commercial screening rights of Hindi and regional language films and sharing them with Missions/Posts for local screening; 4. Dubbing/Sub-titling of documentary and feature films in foreign language; 5. Purchase and supply of selected audio/video music CDs/DVDs/Pen Drives to Headquarters & Missions/ Posts abroad; etc. 6. Sanctioning funds to Missions/Posts abroad for organizing publicity activities/events etc. From the budget of XPD Division; 7. Public outreach activities like Distinguished Lecture Series etc. |
|        3 | 2021-2022                              |                                                12.9  |                                                                           6.43 | The expenditure under PD Budget incurred on: 1. Procurement of books (selected by Book Committee) and other publicity material and their supply in Headquarters and for representation purpose and libraries of Missions/ Posts abroad; 2. Commissioning of short films, documentaries, and other audio-visual material for publicity purpose; 3. Procurement of non-commercial screening rights of Hindi and regional language films and sharing them with Missions/Posts for local screening; 4. Dubbing/Sub-titling of documentary and feature films in foreign language; 5. Purchase and supply of selected audio/video music CDs/DVDs/Pen Drives to Headquarters & Missions/ Posts abroad; etc. 6. Sanctioning funds to Missions/Posts abroad for organizing publicity activities/events etc. From the budget of XPD Division; 7. Public outreach activities like Distinguished Lecture Series etc. |
|        4 | 2022-2023 (till 30 th November , 2022) |                                                15.54 |                                                                           3.91 | The expenditure under PD Budget incurred on: 1. Procurement of books (selected by Book Committee) and other publicity material and their supply in Headquarters and for representation purpose and libraries of Missions/ Posts abroad; 2. Commissioning of short films, documentaries, and other audio-visual material for publicity purpose; 3. Procurement of non-commercial screening rights of Hindi and regional language films and sharing them with Missions/Posts for local screening; 4. Dubbing/Sub-titling of documentary and feature films in foreign language; 5. Purchase and supply of selected audio/video music CDs/DVDs/Pen Drives to Headquarters & Missions/ Posts abroad; etc. 6. Sanctioning funds to Missions/Posts abroad for organizing publicity activities/events etc. From the budget of XPD Division; 7. Public outreach activities like Distinguished Lecture Series etc. |

## ANNEXURE B

## Details of Expenditure on Holding of Seminars and Research Studies, Support to Institutes of Chinese Studies and Grants to Autonomous Bodies of M/o External Affairs from April, 2019 to 30 th November, 2022.

## FY 2019-20:

-  Budget Head: Expenditure on Holding Seminars and Research Studies

|   S. No. | Institute                                       | Amount (INR)   | Purpose                                                |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Observer Research Foundation                    | 1,00,00,000/-  | Organizing of 5th Raisina Dialogue                     |
|        2 | India Foundation                                | 99,92,000/-    | Organizing of 3rd Indian Ocean Conference              |
|        3 | Ananta Centre                                   | 46,92,350/-    | Organizing of India-US Forum                           |
|        4 | Pune International Centre                       | 61,20,000/-    | Organizing of 3rd Asia Economic Dialogue               |
|        5 | Carnegie India                                  | 60,00,000/-    | Organizing of 3rd Global Technology Summit             |
|        6 | Carnegie India                                  | 1,97,500/-     | Organizing of India Strategy Forum                     |
|        7 | Gateway House                                   | 10,87,948/-    | Organizing of India-Canada Track 1.5 dialogue          |
|        8 | Ananta Centre                                   | 14,70,453/-    | Organizing of India-Korea Track 1.5 dialogue           |
|        9 | Delhi Policy Group                              | 9,98,955/-     | Organizing of India-Japan Track 1.5 dialogue           |
|       10 | VidyaPrasarak Mandal                            | 3,34,803/-     | Conference on India's Neighbourhood First Policy       |
|       11 | Jadavpur Association of International Relations | 15,63,029/-    | Conference on 50 years of India- Bangladesh Relations. |
|       12 | Madurai Kamraj University                       | 1,00,000/-     | Three day international conference on Indo-Pacific     |
|       13 | National Institute of Advanced Studies          | 3,28,120/-     | Dialogue on Strategic Security Threats                 |

|   14. | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA)   | 41,56,875/-   | Research Projects and Publications   |
|-------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|--------------------------------------|
|    15 | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA)   | 5,45,137/-    | 4 th West Asia Conference            |
|    16 | Association of Indian Diplomats (AID)                                  | 8,25,156/-    | Research Projects and Publications   |

##  Budget Head : Support to Institutes of Chinese Studies

|   S. No. | Institute                                     | Amount (INR)   | Purpose                                                                       |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Chennai Centre for Chinese Studies (CCCS)     | 6,00,000/-     | Various research activities for understanding China and India-China Relations |
|        2 | Centre for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS) | 36,40,000/-    | Research Project                                                              |

##  Budget Head: Grants to Autonomous Bodies

|   S. No. | Autonomous Bodies                | Amount (INR)   | Purpose             |
|----------|----------------------------------|----------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Indian Council for World Affairs | 15,06,25,260/- | Activities of ICWA. |
|        2 | Research and Information System  | 11,53,67,123/- | Activities of RIS   |

## FY 2020-21:

##  Budget Head: Expenditure on Holding Seminars and Research Studies

|   S No. | Institute                             | Amount (INR)   | Purpose                                   |
|---------|---------------------------------------|----------------|-------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Association of Indian Diplomats (AID) | 10,21,428/-    | Research Projects and Publications        |
|       2 | Jadavpur University                   | 15,63,029/-    | Conference on India- Bangladesh relations |
|       3 | Vidya Prasarak Mandal (VPM)           | 3,34,803/-     | Seminar on India's Neighborhood           |

|    |                                                                      |               | First Policy                                           |
|----|----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
|  4 | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) | 53,76,125/-   | Research and Publications                              |
|  5 | India Foundation                                                     | 99,52,823/-   | Organization of 4th Indian Ocean Conference            |
|  6 | Madurai University                                                   | 1,00,000/-    | Conference on Indo-Pacific                             |
|  7 | Ananta Aspen Centre                                                  | 25,08,135/-   | Organization of India-Korea Track 1.5 Dialogue         |
|  8 | NIAS                                                                 | 3,28,120/-    | Dialogue on Strategic Security Threats                 |
|  9 | Observer Research Foundation (ORF)                                   | 1,00,00,000/- | Organization of 6th Raisina Dialogue                   |
| 10 | Pune International Centre                                            | 47,06,108/-   | Organization of 4th Asia Economic Dialogue             |
| 11 | Carnegie India                                                       | 60,00,000/-   | Organization of 4th Global Technology Summit           |
| 12 | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) | 5,45,137/-    | Organization of West Asia Conference                   |
| 13 | Impact Investor Council                                              | 5,50,000/-    | Organization of Conference- Prabhav                    |
| 14 | Ananta Aspen Centre                                                  | 17,80,000/-   | Organization of 4 th India-US Forum Track 1.5 Dialogue |
| 15 | Hudson Institute                                                     | 18,53,750/-   | Organization of India-U.S. Track 1.5 Dialogue          |
| 16 | Carnegie India                                                       | 35,00,000/-   | Organization of 5th Global Technology Summit           |

##  Budget Head: Support to Institute of Chinese Studies

|   S.No. | Institute                                     | Amount (INR)   | Purpose          |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------|------------------|
|       1 | Centre for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS) | 40,04,000/-    | Research Project |

##  Budget Head: Grants to Autonomous Bodies

|   S.NO. | Autonomous Bodies                | Amount (INR)   | Purpose            |
|---------|----------------------------------|----------------|--------------------|
|       1 | Indian Council for World Affairs | 11,83,00,000/- | Activities of ICWA |
|       2 | Research and Information System  | 10,88,91,564/- | Activities of RIS  |

## FY 2021-22:

-  Budget Head: Expenditure on Holding Seminars and Research Studies

|   Sl No. | Institute                                                            | Amount (INR)   | Purpose                                                                            |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Pune International Centre (PIC)                                      | 9,47,802/-     | Organization of 5 th Asia Economic Dialogue                                        |
|        2 | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) | 65,16,139/-    | Research and Publications                                                          |
|        3 | Association of Indian Diplomats (AID)                                | 8,73,008       | Research Projects and Publications                                                 |
|        4 | Delhi Policy Group (DPG)                                             | 2,00,000/-     | Research Project                                                                   |
|        5 | HP Ghosh Research Centre (Bandhan Konnagar)                          | 2,61,045/-     | Organizing of Kolkata- Dhaka Dialogue                                              |
|        6 | Policy 4.0 Research Foundation                                       | 53,400/-       | Webinar based learning on Blockchain                                               |
|        7 | Ananta Aspen Centre                                                  | 18,50,000/-    | Organizing of India Japan Track 1.5                                                |
|        8 | Pune International Centre (PIC)                                      | 10,09,977/-    | Organizing of 6 th Asia Economic Dialogue 2022                                     |
|        9 | Delhi Policy Group (DPG)                                             | 8,50,000/-     | 4 th India-Japan Indo-Pacific Forum                                                |
|       10 | Institute of Social and Cultural Studies                             | 8,18,547/-     | Organizing a Virtual Symposium on -'Bimstec- A Vehicle for Growth and Development' |
|       11 | European Council on Foreign Relation's (ECFR)                        | 10,76,875/-    | Foreign Relations Study on Indo- Pacific                                           |

##  Budget Head: Support to Institute of Chinese Studies

|   S. No. | Institute                                     | Amount (INR)   | Purpose                                                                       |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Chennai Centre for Chinese Studies (CCCS)     | 6,00,000/-     | Various research activities for understanding China and India-China Relations |
|        2 | Centre for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS) | 40,04,000/-    | Research Project                                                              |

-  Budget Head: Grants to Autonomous Bodies

|   S. No. | Autonomous Bodies                | Amount (INR)   | Purpose            |
|----------|----------------------------------|----------------|--------------------|
|        1 | Indian Council for World Affairs | 12,00,00,000/- | Activities of ICWA |
|        2 | Research and Information System  | 11,90,65,528/- | Activities of RIS  |

## FY 2022-23:

-  Budget Head: Expenditure on Holding Seminars and Research Studies

|   Sl No. | Institute                                                            | Amount (INR)                  | Purpose                                              |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | India Foundation                                                     | 1,24,35,000/-                 | 5 th Indian Ocean Conference                         |
|        2 | Vidya Prasarak Mandal's Centre                                       | 5,57,260/-                    | Organization of Seminar on Indo-US relations         |
|        3 | Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) | 33,68,666/-                   | Research and Publications                            |
|        4 | Ananta Aspen Centre                                                  | 7,38,383/-                    | Organizing the India-EU Track 1.5 Dialogue           |
|        5 | India Global Forum (IGF)                                             | 35,00,000/- (AED- 1,64,150/-) | Organizing India Global Forum in Dubai - UAE Edition |

|   6. | North East Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi)   | 44,25,000/-   | Study on connectivity between Indian North East States and Neighboring Countries   |
|------|--------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    7 | Association of Indian Diplomats (AID)                        | 53,961/-      | Talks, Lectures, Seminars                                                          |
|    8 | Asian Confluence                                             | 19,35,000/-   | NADI Dialogue, Guwahati, 2022                                                      |
|    9 | Ananta Aspen Centre                                          | 8,99,741/-    | India-Korea Track 1.5 dialogue                                                     |
|   10 | Ananta Aspen Centre                                          | 22,55,000/-   | India-USA Forum Track 1.5 dialogue                                                 |
|   11 | Gateway House                                                | 6,69,100/-    | India-France Track 1.5 dialogue                                                    |
|   12 | CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition                | 1,27,152/-    | Organizing a seminar                                                               |
|   13 | Carnegie India                                               | 58,11,032/-   | Organization of the 6 th Global Technology Summit                                  |
|   14 | Observer Research Foundation                                 | 98,92,195/-   | Organization of 7th Raisina Dialogue                                               |
|   15 | MEA Chair of Excellence at USI                               | 10,00,000/-   | Research                                                                           |

##  Budget Head : Support to Institutes of Chinese Studies

|   S. No. | Institute                                     | Amount (INR)   | Purpose                                                                        |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Chennai Centre for Chinese Studies (CCCS)     | 12,50,000/-    | Various research activities for understanding China and India- China Relations |
|        2 | Centre for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS) | 20,02,000/-    | Research Project                                                               |

##  Grants to Autonomous Bodies

|   S.No. | Autonomous Bodies                | Amount (INR)            | Purpose            |
|---------|----------------------------------|-------------------------|--------------------|
|       1 | Indian Council for World Affairs | 9,94,90,000 (till date) | Activities of ICWA |
|       2 | Research and Information System  | 14,59,00,000            | Activities of RIS  |

*****