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The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) did not provide USD 21 million in funding for “voter turnout-related activities" in India. This was in contradiction to claims made by US President Donald Trump and the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formerly headed by billionaire Elon Musk.
In a reply to CPI(M) MP John Brittas, the MEA told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, August 21, that the US Embassy in New Delhi had denied the claim.
The MEA cited the Embassy as saying, "USAID/India did not receive or provide funding of $21 million for voter turnout in India from fiscal years 2014 to 2024, nor has it implemented any voter turnout-related activities in India.”
In February 2025, DOGE had announced that it was cancelling a USD 21 million grant purportedly allocated for "voter turnout in India" through the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS). CEPPS is a US-backed initiative supporting electoral processes worldwide.
Reacting to Musk’s claim, President Trump alleged that the funds were intended to influence India’s elections. "I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected," he said, hinting at potential Opposition involvement in using foreign funds to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from returning to power.
The claims kicked up a political storm in India, with BJP leaders Amit Malviya, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and others accusing the Congress of enabling "external interference" in India’s elections.
Several mainstream Indian media outlets reported the claim as “proof” that the former Biden administration in the US was undermining Indian democracy. Some reports had pointed to an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Election Commission of India and the Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), a partner organisation of CEPPS.
Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi had rejected these reports, saying there was no funding involved in the MoU.
Shortly afterwards, The Indian Express reported that the USD 21 million grant was, in fact, intended for Bangladesh. US government records confirmed that no USAID funding had been allocated to CEPPS projects in India since 2008.
In its reply to the Rajya Sabha, the MEA said that it had sought the details on 28 February 2025. Upon MEA’s request, the US Embassy shared data on USAID funding in India from 2014 to 2024 on July 2.
“The Embassy also maintains that ‘USAID/India did not receive or provide funding of $21 million for voter turnout in India from fiscal years 2014 to 2024, nor has it implemented any voter turnout-related activities in India,’” the MEA said.