Modi government has commissioned an audacious operation to scrub India’s global image. The primary target is international indices in which India fares badly. Ministries, embassies, and a special unit called GIRG have been tasked to track and influence over 30 indices that rank countries on hunger, poverty, democracy, rule of law among others. Their playbook? Lobbying to alter methodologies to bump up India’s rankings, unleashing ministers to bash the indices, and creating homegrown indices with cherry-picked data to make India look good. This investigation exposes a government more obsessed with optics than fixing country’s real problems.

Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam reveals Modi held backdoor negotiations with the Finance Commission to cut tax funds allocated to states, and says gov't finances are so shady, they could be hit by a 'Hindenburg'.

Hidden in plain sight, the Patanjali business empire is functioning as a dubious real-estate agency buying and selling forested lands in the fragile Aravalli mountain range through a web of shell companies.

Who had access to internet during the Manipur conflict when the state shut it off for ordinary citizens? And what did they use it for? A war on social media. Concerted campaigns. Hackers on hire. And angry citizens. We report on the battle of information, disinformation and hate from Manipur. We teamed up with tech experts to analyse hundreds of thousands of social media messages to understand the conflict running online.

RBI asks Bank of Baroda to suspend registering new customers on its banking app after exposé, but cover-up afoot

The Collective’s investigation reveals the Union government gave away coal blocks to private companies based on its discretion, undermining the landmark 2014 Supreme court order and the coal reforms it had unveiled. The Centre also gave into lobbying by power companies to open up the densest forests for mining, defying environment ministry

This investigative series exposes how the Modi government favoured commercial interests over forest conservation and indigenous rights while abandoning the long-delayed National Forest Policy. Just after taking office, it aimed to open forests for private plantations, culminating in the 2023 amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act. These changes prioritize profit over biodiversity, granting private businesses access to India's forests. The amendment limits protection to recognized forests, endangering large swathes of potential unofficial forestland. These investigations reveal a troubling pattern of forest exploitation, corporate interests, and indigenous rights neglect.

The Collective’s investigation illuminates the corporate influence on the agricultural policies of the Union government. It uncovers how an NRI with no agricultural expertise managed to capture Niti Aayog's attention and got himself, and the people he picked, to be part of the task force formed by Niti Aayog to find ways to double farmers’ income. The investigation thrust open the doors of the task force behind which Adani Group candidly advocated the removal of restrictions on corporate companies hoarding agricultural commodities, which become a law two years later and trigged farmers’ protest.

Internal Emails Reveal Thousands Of Bank Accounts Linked To Unauthorised Mobile Numbers To Fraudulently Boost Registrations On Its App, Raising Security Concerns

The Collective's investigation uncovers the Union government's rush to supply fortified rice to 80 crore Indians, ignoring failed pilot projects and warnings from the finance ministry and the head of premier medical research body. NITI Aayog confidentially reported the that government bungled pilot projects meant to gather scientific evidence on fortified rice. The investigation further revealed that international organisations linked to a Dutch fortified rice premix producer influenced government policy, provided evidence, and influenced standards.

The investigation reveals that the government allowed private corporations to bypass the competitive process to corner large coal reserves. It allowed shell companies of a conglomerate to manipulate auctions, and granted an extraordinary favour to another.

The think tank pushed Modi gov't to cut food subsidies, curtail food security coverage and privatise PDS, documents reveal

Thousands declared qualified yet denied jobs in Central Armed Police Forces as Union government leaves thousands of seats vacant without stating why

Union government asks two prominent nonprofits to quit seeking donations in areas where the government runs schemes.

Banks have been either enrolling customers en masse from the backend or by obtaining consent signatures through lies, deceit or coercion

After the Bhopal gas tragedy, Union Carbide and its executives were declared absconders. Their properties were ordered to be attached. But, using a web of front companies it funnelled in goods and took out profits for more than a decade.

Under the law, similar to the one in UP, the child if found guilty could be ordered to pay compensation to his neighbour. It will happen without a formal criminal investigation that requires a police investigation, a prosecution and a trial before a proper court that follows procedures and offers safeguards under IPC.

Internal files of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change reveal it had been planning to weaken tribal rights over forests since 2019. Modi government’s new Forest Conservation Rules made it easier for industries to grab their traditional homelands.

Vedanta’s pig iron industry in Goa got clearance to expand despite being caught emitting dangerous substance for more than a decade. It went to great lengths to dodge environmental laws and avoid paying for pollution mitigation efforts.

A grammatical loophole in appointment rules helps Women and Child Development Ministry push through the amendments to increase the terms of chairpersons of the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

The move could stop millions of poor children without Aadhaar from having healthy meal, and violates a Supreme Court order that no subsidy or service may be denied to children for want of Aadhaar

The Union government used a flawed set of data to mask the gloomier death count calculated by the UN body, and ignored a robust number thrown up by another of its own survey. The data was so unreliable that 20 of the 36 states and Union territories saw more registered deaths than what the government claims died.

Supreme Court has not heard the Electoral Bond case for more than 2 years after receiving data from parties in a sealed cover. That has let the belief spread that Electoral Bonds were encashed by 105 political parties and the BJP’s claim that bonds are an efficient way to allow “donation to any political party of donors’ choice”.

The Union government's auctions worth more than Rs 4,600 crore to provide pulses to the poor and armed forces were rigged to benefit a few big millers, shows the findings of the National Productivity Council, a government research body headed by Minister Piyush Goyal. The Council’s findings confirm The Collective’s previous exposé that the terms of auctions allowed the millers to rip the government off tonnes of pulses and sell them at a profit in the open market, and also supply poor-quality pulses.

In the investigative series on India’s monetary policy, The Collective found evidence of Modi government’s attempts at making inroads into the RBI and nibble away its independence in setting the country’s monetary policy, which primarily aims to keep prices stable. The series spotlights how the same government that brought in the independent monetary policy framework defeated its key goals of transparency and accountability.

TRC investigated more than 5 lakh political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram to assess the influence of Facebook on elections. We found evidence that the world’s biggest social media network systematically undercut political competition by giving unfair advantage to BJP in elections. Read our four-part investigative series here.

Former J&K BJP legislator Vikram Randhawa accused BJP's Union minister Jitendra Singh of profiting from corruption in Jammu's mining department after being being slapped with Rs 96 lakh penalty for illegal river mining. The accusations were withdrawn and guns holstered. But penalty documents and inquiry committee reports reveal how Jammu's mining department abandoned penalties worth Rs 6.68 crore on stone crushers operating illegally around Tawi and how miners had it easy.

Through death register data obtained from across the country, The Reporters’ Collective estimates that in the pandemic 3,59,496 more people died than in a normal year in just 3 states where officially only 28,609 died of Covid. Experts fear relatives of thousands of Covid-19 victims will be excluded from compensation due to lack of medical records, poor testing and red-tape despite the Centre initiating compensation procedure on the instructions of the Supreme Court.

The land, whose current market value could be anywhere between Rs 600 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, was leased for 33 years at Rs 6 lakh annually with a 5% increase in the rent every four years. Illustration: The Wire

From predicting millions of voting choices to deleting inconvenient voters, a world of manipulative possibilities could be opened by the government’s decision—controversially pushed through Parliament—to link Aadhaar, India’s national identity database, and election commission data.

Auction method used to mill pulses under welfare schemes for poor and armed forces allowed millers to make unchecked profits for years, hammering the public exchequer and the quality of pulses supplied

Data from thousands of pages of death registers maintained by municipalities in Gujarat show an excess death count of 16,892 for just 6% of the state's population during the pandemic. When projected across the state, the figure zooms to a staggering 281,000.

Under its commercial coal mining auctions, the Modi govt has sold off at least two coal blocks for rates cheaper than their 2015 prices. As a result Chhattisgarh will end up losing Rs 900 crore every year and over Rs 24,000 crore over decades.

The Niti Aayog wants to review economic impacts of Supreme Court rulings on environmental-law violations. Its officials are supposedly not investigating ‘judicial activism’. Files we obtained under RTI show that is indeed what they are doing.

Two days after the Health Ministry said it has ensured 'effective' distribution of foreign Covid aid and lambasted media for reports on its haphazard handling of the donations, its own records belie the claims. Internal records show large consignments were either 'in transit' or yet to even be allocated -- some from as far back as April 30!

A new report by US-based Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensics agency, claims that 22 ‘incriminating’ filed were planted into activist Rona Wilson’s laptop. These files are among the primary evidence against Wilson and 15 others currently in jail.

Investigating the records and practices at India's largest and government owned-steel plants in Asansol and Durgapur in West Bengal shows hundreds of workers lost jobs, and many more suffered wage loss even as the company made profits.

Through a secretive deal, the government sold off vehicular bulk data of the entire country to a private company in a deal that officials red-flagged over lack of price discovery. With this exclusive low-cost bounty, the firm developed an entire business model based on the data. It even cut a separate agreement with a German firm and sent samples of sensitive data it received from the government. All this happened five years before the government announced a dedicated policy to sell the same data to other buyers.

{{BOLD}}Ministry of Truth, Part 2{{/BOLD}} [[BR]] The homemade poverty index was preordained to show the government in a flattering light, reveals a confidential report. Then convenient parameters were cherrypicked to show a lower number of poor. Modi flaunted the numbers in the election campaign.

{{BOLD}}The Ministry of Truth, Part 1{{/BOLD}} [[BR]] How the Prime Minister’s Office has ordered a systemic operation to discredit and ‘fix’ global rankings which show the gov’t in bad light. And, to home-cook some charitable replacements.

Malwa region has become a hotspot for brazen liquor smuggling into the dry state of Gujarat, fuelled by distilleries that overproduce, borders that leak, policy with loopholes, and officials who collude.

Convoluted auction rules, scuttled competition and friendly bidders lead to the mega solar power deal. The deal is now caught in allegations of corruption, bribery and fraud by the US authorities.

संयुक्त अरब अमीरात के साथ मोदी सरकार के द्वारा ज़ल्दबाजी में किये गये व्यापार समझौते के कारण निजी व्यापारियों ने 1,700 करोड़ रुपये के अनुमानित टैक्स को बिना चुकाये 24,000 करोड़ के प्लैटिनम एलॉय का आयात कर लिया। कस्टम अधिकारियों ने इसको लेकर चेतावनी दी थी।

Customs authorities raise alarm as private players import Rs 24,000 crore worth of platinum alloy to avoid an estimated Rs 1,700 crore in taxes. Courtesy, a deal Modi government signed in haste with the UAE

रासायनिक रूप से फोर्टिफाइड चावल को कुछ लोगों के लिए हानिकारक बताया गया था। सुप्रीम कोर्ट में सरकार पर यह सुनिश्चित करने का दबाव था कि यह उन लोगों को न दिया जाए जिनपर ऐसा खतरा है। इसके बजाय, सरकार ने एक विशेषज्ञ पैनल का गठन करके यह निष्कर्ष निकाला कि किसी को भी चेतावनी देने की आवश्यकता नहीं है।

Chemically fortified rice was labelled as unsafe for some. The government was under pressure in the Supreme Court to ensure it is not given to those who are at risk. The government instead set up a convenient expert panel to conclude that nobody needs to be warned to begin with.

बिजली का उत्पादन करने का ठेका देने के लिये राजस्थान और महाराष्ट्र में जो टेंडर जारी किये गये उनके नियम और शर्तों में बहुत सी समानताएं थी और इन नियम और शर्तों को अडानी समूह की विद्युत क्षेत्र की वर्तमान परियोजनाओं और भविष्य की योजनाओं के अनुसार तराशा गया था। जहां अडानी समूह को एक ठेका पहले ही मिल गया है वहीं दूसरे ठेके को पाने की दौड़ में यह समूह सबसे आगे है। अडानी समूह को प्राप्त हुए इतने बड़े ठेके का दुष्परिणाम ये हुआ है की अब अगले 25 साल तक राज्य सरकार अडानी से बिजली खरीदने के लिये बाध्य है।

The terms in the tenders by Rajasthan and Maharashtra, which have identical criteria, are tailored to match Adani Group’s operations and ground plans. The group has already bagged one contract and is the frontrunner for the other. The massive contracts bind states to buy power for 25 years.

नीति आयोग, राज्यों और विशेषज्ञों ने चेताया की योजना में घोटाला हो सकता है लेकिन मोदी सरकार ने सभी चेतावनियों को दरकिनार करते हुए मध्य प्रदेश की असफल योजना का पूरे देश में विस्तार कर दिया

Niti Aayog, states and experts warned the scheme was scam-prone. But Modi gov’t ignored them to upscale a failed scheme of Madhya Pradesh government across the country.

केंद्र सरकार ने अपने पिछले कार्यकाल में 906 केंद्रीय योजनाएं चलाईं, उनमें से 71.9% की फंडिंग कम हुई। हर पांच में से एक योजना पर सरकार ने बजट में किए गए वादे का आधे से भी कम खर्च किया।

The Union government that ran 906 central sector schemes in its last tenure underfunded 71.9% of them. On one out of every five schemes, the government spent less than half of what it promised in the budget.

पतंजलि ने योग और आयुर्वेद को बढ़ावा देने के लिए एक चैरिटेबल संस्था की स्थापना की। इसने सालों तक कोई चैरिटी कार्य नहीं किया। इसके बजाय इसका इस्तेमाल बढ़ते कारोबार को मजबूत करने के लिए किया गया।

Patanjali set up a charitable entity to promote yoga and ayurveda. For years no charity work was undertaken. Instead it was used to consolidate the expanding business.

किसानों को फसल का उचित दाम दिलाने की पीएम-आशा योजना पर वास्तविक खर्च केवल 2019 और 2024 के लोकसभा चुनावों के आसपास के महीनों में देखा गया। दो आम चुनावों के बीच तीन साल तक सरकार ने इस योजना पर एक भी रुपया खर्च नहीं किया।

PM AASHA, a crop price support scheme, saw real spending only in the months around 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Three years in between the two general elections, the government did not spend a single rupee on the scheme.

Over the years the Association of Power Producers got government to make favourable policy changes while its members and entities linked to them together donated at least Rs 516 crore to BJP

मध्य प्रदेश के सबसे घने जंगलों में स्थित ब्लॉक में खनन पर लगे प्रतिबंध को हटाने के लिए पर्यावरण मंत्रालय और खनन विशेषज्ञों पर कोयला मंत्रालय ने डाला दबाव।

Coal ministry over-rode environment ministry and its mining experts to do away with ban on mining the block nestled in the densest forests of Madhya Pradesh.

Thanks to a tiny tweak in the law, at least 16 of top 200 firms among donors donated despite running in loss, many gave excessively

The group did not make much profit, but was generous to political parties.

Future Gaming’s business remains baffling with its high revenue, mysteriously low profit and eye-popping high electoral bond donations to political parties

Union Finance Ministry forced SBI to accept expired bonds, against its own rules, in favour of BJP, show new disclosures

Only DMK, JD(S) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party submitted complete details of electoral bond donors and donations till the end of 2023

RJD and Goa Forward Party, in their declarations to EC, revealed they received funding from Prudent Electoral Trust via electoral bonds

Centre’s decision to curb cheaper imports boosted company’s business, despite Competition Commission’s finding that it abused dominant market position

He was an accused in the controversial 2005 Sohrabuddin encounter case and later acquitted by the CBI court

The Electoral bond scheme allowed individuals to donate to parties, providing a tool to companies wishing to keep donations away from scrutiny

Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited has been in news after its property worth over Rs 400 crore was attached by Enforcement Directorate

It is the second highest donor after Future Gaming and Hotel Services

TRC investigation exposed the role of the two firms that played a key role in rigging bids during the country’s first ever coal auction, to help the group’s flagship firm win the coal mine block

अवैध प्रोत्साहनों के लोभ में बैंक अधिकारी अपने कर्मचारियों को किसी भी तरह बीमा बेचने के लिए मजबूर करते हैं, जिसकी कीमत ग्राहकों को अवांछित पॉलिसियों के रूप में चुकानी पड़ती है

Driven by illegal incentives, bank executives compel their staff to sell insurance anyhow, with customers paying the price in the form of unwanted policies

नीति आयोग के सीईओ बीवीआर सुब्रमण्यम ने खुलासा किया कि मोदी ने राज्यों को आवंटित कर निधि में कटौती के लिए वित्त आयोग के साथ अनौपचारिक बातचीत की, और कहा कि सरकार का वित्त इतना खराब है कि उन पर 'हिंडनबर्ग' जैसा आघात पड़ सकता है।

नियामक एजेंसी प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड को मुख्यमंत्री की मांग पर एक सेवा-प्रदाता बना दिया गया। जिससे उद्योगों को मंजूरी देने के लिए अधिकारियों पर अवास्तविक समयसीमा का दबाव पड़ा वहीं इससे चूकने पर उनके खिलाफ दंडात्मक कार्रवाई भी की गई।

On Chief Minister’s demand, the pollution control board, a regulatory agency, was turned into a service provider. The move imposed unrealistic deadlines in granting approvals to industry, coupled with penal action on officials missing the tight deadlines.

हरियाणा सरकार ने अरावली की वनभूमि के संरक्षण के कई कानूनी रास्ते बंद किए। इससे पतंजलि की शेल कंपनियों को इनकी खरीद-फरोख्त करके भारी मुनाफा कमाने का अवसर मिला।

पतंजलि समूह ने संदिग्ध फर्जी कंपनियों का एक जाल बिछाया, जिसके ज़रिए पैसे का हेर-फेर करके अरावली में वनभूमि खरीद कर फिर उसे रियल एस्टेट के रूप में बेचा गया।

Haryana govt blocked multiple legal routes to protect Aravalli's forest lands. This allowed Patanjali's shell companies to earn super-profits by trading in them

Patanjali Group employed a web of dubious shell companies that funnelled money to buy Aravalli forestland and sell it as real estate.

महीनों से चल रहे इस जातीय संघर्ष में सोशल मीडिया पर अपने-अपने समुदायों का पक्ष रखने और "दूसरे" को नीचा दिखाने की होड़ लगी है।

जब नीलामी विफल हो जाती है, तो केंद्र निर्णय लेता है कि अकेले बोली लगाने वालों को कोयला खदानें मिलनी चाहिए या नहीं। अब तक 12 निजी कंपनियों को फायदा हुआ है, जिसमें अडानी ग्रुप भी शामिल है

रिपोर्टर्स कलेक्टिव-अल जज़ीरा की रिपोर्ट के बाद हुई जाँच के आधार पर भारतीय रिज़र्व बैंक ने बैंक ऑफ़ बड़ौदा को बॉब वर्ल्ड ऐप पर नए ग्राहकों को जोड़ने से रोका

When auctions fail, the Centre decides if lone bidders should get the coal mines anyway. Twelve private companies have benefited so far, including the Adani Group

कोयला मंत्रालय ने देश के घने जंगलों में खनन पर लगे प्रतिबंध को हटाने के लिए पर्यावरण मंत्रालय और अपने ही खनन विशेषज्ञों को किया दरकिनार।

Coal ministry over-rode environment ministry and its mining experts to do away with ban on mining in the densest forests in the country

1996 में SC ने केंद्र और राज्यों से कहा कि भारत की सभी वनों की पहचान कर उन्हें संरक्षित किया जाए। 27 साल गुजरने के बावजूद उन्होंने यह काम पूरा नहीं किया। अब, केंद्र के नए वन कानून ने उन वनों के संरक्षण को खत्म कर दिया है जिन्हें कागजों पर मान्यता प्राप्त नहीं है।

In 1996, the Supreme Court asked the Union government and states to identify and protect all of India’s forests. For 27 years, they did not complete the job. Now, the Centre’s new forest law has removed protection for forests not recognised on paper.

दस्तावेज़ों से पता चलता है कि मोदी सरकार ने जंगलों को व्यावसायिक पौधारोपण के लिए खोलने की योजना पर काम कार्यभार संभालने के तुरंत बाद ही शुरू कर दिया था। हालाँकि इसे आदिवासी अधिकारों और जंगलों को नुकसान पहुँचाने के लिए विरोध का सामना करना पड़ा, लेकिन हाल ही में वन (संरक्षण) अधिनियम संशोधन के माध्यम से यह योजना सफल हुई।

Modi govt's dogged pursuit of a plan to open forests for commercial plantation began shortly after taking office, documents show. Though it faced pushback for hurting tribal rights and forests, the plan reached a fruition through the recent Forest (Conservation)Act amendment.

केंद्र सरकार ने नई वन नीति लाने का अपना वादा नहीं निभाया। यह वादा निभाने की बजाए वन संरक्षण कानूनों में ऐसा बदलाव किया जैसा वह चाहती थी।

Centre abandoned promise of a new forest policy. Instead chose to cut the laws on conservation down to the size it desired.

किसानों की आय के विषय पर पर बनी नीति आयोग की टास्क फोर्स के समक्ष, अडानी समूह ने कृषि संबंधी वस्तुओं की जमाखोरी करने वाले कॉरपोरेट्स पर लगे प्रतिबंध हटाने की वकालत की

नीति आयोग की टास्क फोर्स ने एक ऐसे भविष्य की योजना बनाई जिसमें किसान कॉर्पोरेट को कृषि भूमि पट्टे पर दें और उनके सहयोगी के तौर पर काम करें

Before a Niti Aayog task force on farmers’ income, the conglomerate advocated to remove restrictions on corporates hoarding agricultural commodities

Niti Aayog’s task force envisioned a future where farmers lease out farmland to corporations and work as cogs

Before the onset of monsoon, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami personally lobbied with the Centre to keep mining four rivers. The Centre, ruled by his fellow partymen, fulfilled his demand in breach of critical environmental safeguards.

Will India allow industries to sell carbon credits in the international market at a cost to the country? The upcoming national carbon market postpones answering this fundamental question.

Police and Administration dismiss threats asking Muslims of Purola town to leave as media hype, but The Collective finds in plain sight leaders targeting Muslims, and maps rising hate crimes that are turning the state into a communal tinderbox

A bevy of international organisations were part of a government resource centre that chalked up policy on rice fortification. All of them have links to Dutch multinational, Royal DSM, which benefits from the assured market created by the government's decision

Government’s top think tank reviewed the pilot studies in seven districts across India only after the government had ordered 80 crore Indians to be fed fortified rice. It found that all of them were fundamentally flawed and had failed. The report was never made public.

Union government ignored pilot projects’ failure and internal warnings that it is 'premature' to universalise fortified rice without first studying its health impact, particularly on children.