By Lalit K. Jha, IANS,
New York : Several Indian big-wigs, including industrialist Lakshmi Mittal, politician Amar Singh, corporate houses Reliance and Ranbaxy, media house India Today group and Confederation of Indian Industry figure in the list of prominent donors to the Clinton Foundation, according to the information made public Thursday.
Though the exact amounts donated were not released, steel-tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh fall in the category wherein they donated between one million to five million US dollars. So did Tulsi R. Tanti-headed Suzlon Energy Limited, which is based in Amsterdam, and is a leading supplier of wind turbines.
A close friend of the Clinton family, successful Indian American entrepreneur Vinod Gupta, donated between quarter million to half a million US dollars, so did hotelier Lalit Suri who died in October 2006. Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) also made a similar donation.
The list of donors was released by the William J. Clinton Foundation, established by the former US President, Bill Clinton, as part of an agreement with the president-elect, Barack Obama, under which he nominated the former First Lady, Hillary Clinton, as his Secretary of State.
“As soon as Senator Clinton was nominated to be Secretary of State, the Foundation staff began working with President-elect Obama’s transition team to ensure that not even the appearance of a conflict of interest existed between the Clinton Foundation’s operations and Senator Clinton’s anticipated service as Secretary of State,” the Foundation said in a statement issued in New York.
The Foundation is involved in charitable work particularly in the underdeveloped world and in Africa. A large number of its donors are from outside the US. The biggest donors include the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, UNITAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, kingdom of Saudi Arabia and government of Norway.
President Clinton’s efforts are unprecedented and go above and beyond what the law requires and are intended to allow the important work of the Foundation to continue.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) donated between half a million to one million US dollars, according to the list released by the Clinton Foundation. Major Indian and Indian American donors in the category of $100,000 to quarter million include the India Today group, Lata Krishnan, Mike Patel, Raani Corporation, Ranbaxy Pharmacuticals and Reliance Europe Limited.