Politics
Most "financial / geopolitics experts" you follow on Instagram/YouTube are referring a think tank built by Reliance
The Observer Research Foundation (ORF), widely cited by Indian geopolitics influencers and research institutes, is heavily funded and influenced by Reliance.
Key takeaways
- Observer Research Foundation is not independent and was started as a Reliance PR project
- Reliance historically funded 60% to 95% of ORF's budget
- ORF's current president spent 15 years in Reliance's PR team
- ORF's research output shifted to match Reliance's business interests in gas deregulation, cybersecurity, and data storage
- MEA officials are privately unhappy about ORF overstepping into actual diplomacy
The Observer Research Foundation (ORF), widely cited by Indian geopolitics influencers and research institutes, is heavily funded and influenced by Reliance. Originally starting as a Reliance PR project in 1990, Reliance historically provided 60% to 95% of ORF's budget. ORF's leadership includes former Reliance employees, and its research stances have repeatedly aligned with Reliance's business interests. Furthermore, ORF jointly hosts India's premier foreign policy conference, the Raisina Dialogue, with the Ministry of External Affairs, with Reliance covering most of the costs.
By the numbers
- 95%
- Share of ORF's budget funded by Reliance in 2009
- 60%
- Share of ORF's budget funded by Reliance in 2017-18
- ₹20 crore
- Annual Reliance funding to ORF around 2017-18
- 15 years
- Time ORF's current president spent in Reliance's PR team
- 19 years
- Tenure of ORF's early political fixer director
How it unfolded
- Reliance research team turns into ORF
- Reliance funds ninety-five percent of ORF's budget
- S. Jaishankar's son joins ORF Washington office
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Common questions
- What happened with Observer Research Foundation?
- Observer Research Foundation is not independent and was started as a Reliance PR project
- Where can I read the original report?
- Read the full report at reddit_search.
