The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was set up under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 as a Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

   The Agency investigates and prosecutes offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of State, friendly relations with foreign States, matters relating to international treaties etc. specified in the Schedule to the NIA Act, 2008.

    The Government has empowered the NIA through NIA (Amendment) Act, 2019 to investigate scheduled offences involving Indian citizens or Indian interests that are committed outside India. Further, the mandate of NIA has also been expanded to investigate offences related to Explosive Substances Act, 1908, Human Trafficking, Cyber Terrorism and Arms Act, 1959.

    The NIA headquarters is at New Delhi with 02 Zonal offices at Guwahati and Jammu and 21 branch offices throughout the nation, out of which 13 new branch offices and 02 zonal offices have been sanctioned during the last five years.

   The NIA has total 1901 sanctioned posts at present, out of which 664 posts have been sanctioned during the last five years.

   The Government had initially sanctioned a fund of Rs. 12.09 Crore to the NIA during 2009-10. This allocation was of Rs. 91.32 Crore in the year 2014-15, which has now been substantially increased to Rs. 394.66 Crore in the current financial year 2024-25.

   Since its inception, the NIA has registered 640 cases in which judgment has been pronounced in 147 cases with a conviction rate of 95.23%.

   The Government has designated 51 NIA Special Courts across the country, out of which 02 NIA Special Courts at Ranchi and Jammu have been designated as the Special Courts exclusively for the trial of Scheduled Offences investigated by the NIA.

   To enhance the capacity of the NIA in prevention, investigation and prosecution of crimes affecting/ threatening national security, following further steps/ initiatives have been taken ;

1. National Terror Data Fusion & Analysis Centre (NTDFAC) has been established for enabling of Big Data Analytics and facilitating the automation  and  digitization  of  the  various investigative process,

procedures that will strengthen supervision and enhance efficiency, consistency and accountability.

2. The Government has created ISIS Investigation Research Cell (IIRC) in NIA in January, 2018 and broadened its scope to other theatres of terrorism and renamed it as Counter Terrorism Research Cell (CTRC).
3. Exclusive Divisions, such as, Anti Human Trafficking Division (AHTD), Anti Cyber Terrorism Division (ACTD) and a Special Cell comprising of legal experts have also been created in the NIA.
4. The NIA has been made Nodal Agency at Central level for investigation of Terror Funding and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) cases for which a Terror Funding and Fake Currency (TFFC) Cell has been constituted in the NIA for conducting focused investigation.
5. To collaborate with countries across the world, NIA on behalf of MHA organised the 3^rd edition of the Ministerial Level Conference “No Money for Terror (NMFT)” during 2022. Delegates from 78 countries and 16 Multilateral Organizations participated in the said conference.
6. During the past 03 years, NIA in collaboration with foreign agencies, have conducted the Capacity Building Training Programmes (CBTPs) for the NIA officers and States/UT Police, Central Police Organizations (CPOs) and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). The NIA has also conducted such programmes for the Foreign Officers during the last 03 years.
7. The NIA has conducted 40 training courses for capacity building of States Police Forces (the first responders to any terrorist incident) on Counter Terrorism, since 2018.
8. Recently the Government has accorded an approval for Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NIA and NFSU (National Forensic Science University) for capacity building of NIA officers in the field of forensic expertise.
9. A Joint Task Force (JTF) has been instituted between India and Bangladesh for exchange of information related to FICN. NIA has conducted capacity building programs of various Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) at Central and State level as well as for police officers of neighbouring countries including Bangladesh and Nepal for dealing with FICN smuggling.

10. NIA has been a regular participant in Joint Working Groups (JWGs) on counter terrorism with 26 countries that helps the Agency to coordinate with foreign countries on Counter Terrorism related matters.
11. An effort has been made to benchmark the capacities of NIA at par with the parameters of functioning of the best counter-terrorism agencies in the world, in order to bolster the capacity of the NIA in prevention, investigation and prosecution of crimes affecting/ threatening national security.

         This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

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  RK/VV/ASH/RR/PR/PS/171

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