Greenpeace India’s Finances
Greenpeace India began its work by setting up Greenpeace Environment Trust (GPET) in 2001. The Trust is not registered under FCRA and can only receive domestic contributions. Individuals who initially supported the Trust continue to do so through regular donations which currently give us approximately 15 lakhs a month.
In 2002, a separate entity was created called the Greenpeace India Society (GPIS) and registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. This new entity, being a membership-based body, allowed for a much higher level of governance. It was therefore also registered under FCRA to allow Greenpeace India to secure foreign grants.
Both the Trust and the Society have similar objectives related to protecting India’s natural environment. However, as Greenpeace India’s campaigns grew in scope and impact, for the sake of efficiency and more transparency, most ofour operations were carried out mainly through the Society and to a lesser extent through the Trust.
The Society has operated through seven bank accounts of which only two are linked to FCRA and foreign grants. The remaining five accounts are purely for receiving and utilising domestic donations from Indian supporters, accounting for about 70% of our funding. However, the MHA has currently frozen all seven accounts and therefore crippled our activities.
We continue to operate our Trust accounts, which remain legal and viable, and is entirely funded by Indian supporters who believe in our campaigns. The Trust account will remain our lifeline while we fight the battle against MHA’s arbitrary and unjustified actions in freezing all our Society accounts.
As a policy, Greenpeace does not accept donations in cash, neither do we accept any corporate or government funding. All contributions made for our work are through individual bank accounts or credit cards.