Meet Anant Ahuja: Sonam Kapoor's Brother-in-Law Who Received ₹6.5 Crore USAID Grant

A lawmaker has expressed an interest in a particular USD 750,000 grant made by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to an NGO affiliated with Anant Ahuja, the brother in law of Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor. The Ahuja’s NGO received the grant to undertake a project tackling the issue of loneliness for migrants in India. With debates around the effectiveness of USAID funding, this grant comes off as questionable.

This issue was brought to light in a funding hearing for USAID on Wednesday, where the US House Oversight Committee brought the topic up. Congresswoman Nancy Mace produced a widely watched video that interrogates whether such aid is beneficial to America. The video, called ‘sUSAID is too busy playing global good Samaritan to advance American interests’, has certainly stirred the pot.

This grant funded the Good Business Lab (GBL) LLC, a company that Anant Ahuja co-founded and where he currently works as the CEO. GBL is a non profit which seeks to increase the wellbeing of workers through effectiveness based research and services that are advantageous to both workers and companies.

Who is Anant Ahuja?

Anant Ahuja is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Good Business Lab (GBL), which is a non-governmental organization aiming at solving the disconnection between enterprises and workers. Additionally, Anant is leading the Organizational Development division of Shahi Exports, which is the largest garment exporting firm in India started by his grandmother, Shahi Exports, a well-known company in India.

Anant Chicago had done his degree in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the head of an organization that strives to develop solutions to the paradox between business profit and employee wellbeing, which was the motivation behind founding GBL.

Anant Chicago has an interest in Music outside of professional works. He is a producer DJ and a part of the music group MadStarBase.

What was the fund intended for?

The grant by USAID sought to support international aid for crossing boundaries to aid female migrants garment workers in India, especially the young women undergoing social and mental health challenges. As stated on the official USAID webpage, the money went towards clinical randomized controlled trial (CRA), which involved a thousand junior female factory workers from six different factories.

For the however portion, even though the budget has now received intense scrutiny, especially amid political clashes over how the USA allocates its budget. Reports are indicating that representatives within Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sought to obstruct the agency’s transfers of funds, which raised allegations of political meddling. Furthermore, there are claims that the Congress-approved funds were not being utilized for politically motivated purposes.