RIL pays Rs 1 cr to lobby with US lawmakers

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which faces possible penalties by the US administration for its business ties with Iran, has paid about Rs 1 crore for lobbying among US lawmakers.The payment of $190,000 to a high-profile lobbyist firm, Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR) Holding, was made in the first quarter of 2009. Under US law, such lobbying is a legitimate activity, with lobby firms required to register themselves and also file disclosure reports. BGR, which registered itself as a lobbyist for RIL in January 2009, disclosed its lobbying-related income from the Indian company in a disclosure filed with the Senate and the House of Representatives for the first quarter of 2009. It has named “trade (domestic/ foreign)” as the general issue areas where it is lobbying on behalf of RIL and has said it provided “strategic counsel on issues related to trade.” It named the House of Representatives and the Senate among the houses and agencies where these lobbying activities were targeted. BGR has lobbyists who have previously served in the White House and Congress and also in other senior positions at various other agencies. The firm is known to have been effective at stopping or changing many policies considered adverse for its clients. Its client list comprises many Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments and trade associations. The disclosure on RIL’s lobbying expenses comes as the Senate and the House of Representatives are in the middle of debating Bills that authorise the US President to levy strong penalties, including a ban on doing business in the US, against companies supplying petroleum products to Iran. RIL and five other European companies have been named by US lawmakers as liable for action in this regard.