Dec. 20: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) — the country’s premier industry forum — swung into damage-control mode after the William J. Clinton Foundation listed it as one of several fund contributors, sparking concern that it may have created a “conflict of interest” for US secretary of state-designate Hillary Clinton.

The chamber of commerce said it had contributed $75,000 to sponsor a Clinton Foundation event in September 2007 that was designed to promote India Inc.

“We paid the money for the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual event held in New York which was attended by a galaxy of international celebrities, including heads of state and governments,” said Chandrajeet Bannerjee, director-general of the CII.

“The funds were disbursed in October-November 2007,” Bannerjee added.

The chamber tried hard to shake off the embarrassment that stemmed from the Clinton Foundation’s disclosures about its contributors. Incoming US President Barrack Obama is believed to have insisted on the full list before confirming Hillary’s appointment.

The CII was at pains to emphasise that this wasn’t a political contribution that was in any way connected with Hillary’s own campaign to win a Democratic nomination to run for the presidency.

“We tried to gain branding for our own event, India@60, which we were holding in the same city. We got our money’s worth in terms of branding because of our association with the Clinton event,” Bannerjee said.

The decision to sponsor the Clinton event – which was a part of the Rs 23-crore India@60 celebration in New York – was taken by a committee that oversaw the fund. This panel included Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, Jamshed Godrej and telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal.

However, it was evident that the proposal to sponsor the Clinton Foundation event had not been cleared by the CII’s executive committee.

Veteran leaders of the CII – Rahul Bajaj and Adi Godrej – said they did not wish to comment on the issue as they did not have all the facts. “I don’t know the facts of the case,” said Rahul Bajaj.

“I don’t know anything about it,” said Adi Godrej.

The disclosures are also potentially embarrassing for the government since it partly sponsored the India@60 event – and could be accused by extension of funnelling cash to the Clinton Foundation.

The India@60 celebrations in New York, which were meant to showcase India’s development and help Indian businessmen network in the global market, was funded largely by CII members. However, the Government of India contributed Rs 5 crore that was routed through the commerce ministry.

However, commerce secretary G.K. Pillai clarified “the money we gave was never paid directly to CII... it went through the India Brand Equity Fund and was paid for specific events, hotel bookings and dinners.”

Other officials added that there was no way that government money could have been passed on to the Clinton Foundation since there were several layers of scrutiny, including by Parliament.

“If doubts are raised, we can check the vouchers again,” Pillai said.

The long list of contributors includes several Indian industrialists, companies and top executives. At the top of the list are Lakshmi Mittal, the owner of the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal, Tulsi Tanti’s Suzlon Energy and Amar Singh. Each of them has contributed between $1 million and $5 million to the Foundation which works on a wide range of issues, from HIV/AIDS to climate change and from elimination of child obesity to sustainable development in Latin America and Africa.

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh yesterday said he didn’t have that kind of money to donate, prompting the BJP today to ask him to come clean.

Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director of construction giant HCC, donated $200,000 to the Clinton Global Initiative. In a media release, the company said the money was meant for HIV/AIDS educational programmes and medical support in and around the HCC work site, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.

When it was pointed out that the list showed his wife Parameshwar Godrej as a contributor in the $10,001 to $25,000 category, Godrej bristled and said: “She is not a contributor. She attended the Clinton Foundation event where the entrance fee was paid from India.”

Besides the CII, several industrialists were also scrambling to head off suggestions of impropriety in their contributions to the Clinton Foundation.

“To my knowledge, there has been no such payment,” said Pramod Mittal over the phone from London. The Clinton Foundation’s list shows Global Steel Holdings had paid between $50,001 and $100,000. Pramod is the younger brother of Lakshmi Mittal.

Several Indian companies provide funds to political parties in India but rarely reveal these details. Under the provisions of the Companies Act, private entities that have been in existence for over three years can fund political parties directly or indirectly. They can also provide funds to a person for “any political purpose”.

Political contributions must be capped at 5 per cent of the net profits and the board of directors must pass a resolution before the contributions can be made.

Some companies scrupulously follow the rules. One such company is Ranbaxy Ltd. In its balance-sheet for the year ended December 31, 2007, the pharmaceutical giant said it had contributed Rs 40 lakh each to the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. It had made no contributions in 2006.

In 2004 (when the previous general election was held), Ranbaxy contributed funds to four political parties: the BJP (Rs 25 lakh), All India Congress Committee (Rs 25 lakh), Telugu Desam Party (Rs 5 lakh) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Rs 5 lakh).

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc – a group company registered in the US – has shovelled between $100,001 and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

Top executives who contributed to the Clinton Foundation include Vinita Bali, MD of Britannia Industries; Raymond Bickson, MD of the Tata-owned Indian Hotels Company; and Vivek Paul, former vice chairman of Wipro and now with the Texas Pacific Group. All of them paid between $10,000 and $25,000.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad today asked, “Did Amar Singh give money from an account which he cannot own up?”

He said the Clinton Foundation was unlikely to lie about the donations. He also wanted to know if the Reserve Bank had cleared the donation and if the Foreign Exchange Management Act had been applied. Prasad said an RBI clearance was needed for donations in foreign exchange if the sum was above $2 million.