Think Tank Corporate Scandal
Is India's top foreign policy think tank actually a corporate PR project? 🔍 Here is how Reliance funding shapes global analysis.
What the video says
India's most prominent foreign policy think tank is facing industry-shaking scrutiny over its deep ties to a single corporate giant. The Observer Research Foundation, or ORF, is widely cited by major media and internet influencers as the gold standard for independent global analyses.
But a landmark report reveals that this massive research hub actually started as a public relations project for the conglomerate Reliance. The financial backing has been massive, with Reliance historically funding 95% of ORF's budget in 2009 and still providing around 60% by 2018.
The leadership connection is just as direct, as ORF's current president spent 15 years working on Reliance's own PR team before taking the helm. Critics point out that the foundation's research focus has repeatedly shifted to match Reliance's commercial expansion, like pushing internet policy right as the company launched its telecom service.
Even India's official diplomacy is feeling the impact, with unnamed insiders reporting that government officials are privately unhappy with how much the corporate-backed group is influencing actual foreign relations.
