Elon Musk-led DOGE cuts USD 21 million grant for 'voter turnout in India'

The US Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk has announced a series of expenditure cuts, including USD 21 million allocated for “voter turnout in India.”

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US President Donald Trump chose Musk to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month.

Tasked with improving governance and curbing wasteful expenditures, the DOGE announced the cuts in a post on X on Saturday.

The department said, “US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all (of) which have been cancelled...”

US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:

- $10M for "Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision"

- $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop "a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills"

- $2.3M for "strengthening…

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 15, 2025

The list included USD 486 million in grants to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening” including USD 22 million for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and USD 21 million for “voter turnout in India”. No further details on the funding were given in the post.

This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US, during which he held talks with President Trump, as well as Musk.

BJP targets Congress after US cancels programme for 'voter turnout' in India

The SpaceX CEO met Modi with his family, including three children. The two discussed opportunities in space, mobility, technology, and energy and exchanged notes on efforts at good governance in India and the US.

In its post, the DOGE also cancelled USD 29 million allocated to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”, as well as USD 20 million for “fiscal federalism” in Nepal and USD 19 million for “biodiversity conversation” in the Himalayan nation.

It also announced cutting a USD 10 million grant for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”, USD 2.3 million for “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia”, USD 32 million to the Prague Civil Society Centre, USD 40 million for “gender equality and women empowerment hub” and USD 14 million for “improving public procurement” in Serbia, among other expenditure cuts. It also included USD 47 million for “improving learning outcomes in Asia”.