Electoral bond data: from billionaire tycoons to lesser-known entities, checklist of top donors
The better known names include steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, DLF, PVR, Birlas, Bajajs, Jindals, Spicejet, IndiGo and the Goenkas.
The Election Commission (EC) recently uploaded data on electoral bonds of the State Bank of India (SBI) on its website. This action was taken to comply with the Supreme Court’s order and was implemented just a day before the court-imposed March 15 deadline. The list of entities that have purchased electoral bonds to make political donations reads like a who’s who of the business world. However, the top donor, according to the list released by the Election Commission on Thursday, is a lesser-known lottery company called Future Gaming and Hotel Services. Closely followed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), the second largest donor, a prominent infrastructure company from Hyderabad recognized for its contributions to major projects such as the Zojila Tunnel.
“It may be recalled that in the said case, ECI has consistently and categorically weighed in favor of disclosure and transparency, a position reflected in the proceedings of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and also stated in the order,” said the press release.
While it is already known that the ruling BJP received the highest donation amount of over Rs 6,000 crore, followed by the Congress Party, the data dump only disclosed the amount donated by each entity or individual. It does not say who donated to which party. While most of the bonds were issued in the name of political parties, the donations to Congress and Samajwadi Party were made in the name of ‘President, All India Congress Committee’ and ‘Adyaksha Samajvadi Party’.
Top donors of electoral bonds
Future Gaming and Hotel Services bought possibly the highest number of bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore, followed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd at Rs 966 crore. Future Gaming was investigated by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2022.
The better known names include steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, DLF, PVR, Birlas, Bajajs, Jindals, Spicejet, IndiGo and the Goenkas.
Among the well-known companies, Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd bought Rs 398 crore worth of bonds, while Sunil Mittal’s three companies together bought a total of Rs 246 crore worth of bonds.
Steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal in his individual capacity bought Rs 35 crore worth of bonds. Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering, which has won contracts for several major infrastructure projects, bought bonds worth Rs 966 crore.
According to the data uploaded by the poll panel, the buyers of electoral bonds included Spicejet, IndiGo, Grasim Industries, Megha Engineering, Piramal Enterprises, Torrent Power, Bharti Airtel, DLF Commercial Developers, Vedanta Ltd., Apollo Tyres, Edelweiss, PVR, Keventer, Sula Wines, Welspun, Sun Pharma, Vardhman Textiles, Jindal Group, Phillips Carbon Black Limited, CEAT tires, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, ITC, Kaypee Enterprises, Cipla and Ultratech Cement.
Besides Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, donors through electoral bonds included Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Varun Gupta, BK Goenka, Jainendra Shah and one person going by the first name only Monika.
Ghaziabad-based Yashoda Super Specialty Hospital bought 162 bonds, mostly of Rs 1 crore each. Bajaj Auto bought bonds worth Rs 18 crore, Bajaj Finance Rs 20 crore, three IndiGo companies Rs 36 crore, Spicejet Rs 65 lakh and Rahul Bhatia of IndiGo bought bonds worth Rs 20 crore. Mumbai-based Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd bought bonds worth Rs 410 crore and Haldia Energy Rs 377 crore.
Parties that have redeemed electoral bonds
The parties that have redeemed electoral bonds include the BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JD-S, NCP, Trinamool Congress, JDU, RJD, AAP, the Samajwadi Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, BJD, Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, JMM, Sikkim Democratic Front and the Jana Sena Party.
According to an earlier report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), electoral bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore were sold between March 2018 and January 2024.
The BJP received the highest contributions through the electoral bonds worth Rs 6,566 crore or 54.77 per cent, followed by the Congress with Rs 1,123 crore or 9.37 per cent, and the Trinamool Congress Rs 1,092 crore or 9.11 per cent, had said it.