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NEW DELHI: Two days after receiving the information from the State Bank of India, the Election Commission uploaded electoral bond data to its website on Thursday. Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel, Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services were among the notable purchasers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political contributions. The poll panel released the data in accordance with the deadline set by the Supreme Court.
Following the time imposed by the Supreme Court, the Election Commission has posted comprehensive information on electoral bonds on its website, derived from the State Bank of India (SBI). According to the data, several well-known businesspeople and businesses, including steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Airtel, Vedanta, ITC, and Mahindra & Mahindra, purchased electoral bonds.
Furthermore, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, a lesser-known company that the Enforcement Directorate is presently investigating, became a noteworthy purchaser of electoral bonds valued at more than Rs 1,350 crore.
Following the time imposed by the Supreme Court, the Election Commission has posted comprehensive information on electoral bonds on its website, derived from the State Bank of India (SBI). According to the data, several well-known businesspeople and businesses, including steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Airtel, Vedanta, ITC, and Mahindra & Mahindra, purchased electoral bonds.
Furthermore, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, a lesser-known company that the Enforcement Directorate is presently investigating, became a noteworthy purchaser of electoral bonds valued at more than Rs 1,350 crore.
Notable firms included Vedanta Ltd., under the leadership of Agarwal, which purchased bonds for Rs. 398 crore, and three companies under the umbrella of Sunil Mittal, which invested in bonds totaling Rs. 246 crore. Steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal spent Rs 35 crore on bonds on his own. Megha Engineering, a Hyderabad-based company well-known for its work on several major infrastructure projects, obtained bonds for Rs 966 crore.
BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JD-S, NCP, Trinamool Congress, JDU, RJD, AAP, Samajwadi Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, BJD, Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, JMM, Sikkim Democratic Front, and Jana Sena Party were among the political groups that purchased electoral bonds.
Key Electoral Bond Purchase Details:
- Notable Buyers:
- Lakshmi Mittal invested Rs 35 crore.
- Vedanta Ltd purchased bonds worth Rs 398 crore.
- Three firms under Bharti Airtel made significant contributions with bonds valued at Rs 246 crore.
- Future Gaming and Hotel Services emerged as a substantial buyer with bonds exceeding Rs 1,350 crore.
- Donors in Total: 213 donors in all bought electoral bonds.
Everyperson Contributions:
- Megha Engineering, which is involved in significant infrastructure projects, purchased bonds for Rs 966 crore.
Recipients from Political Parties:
- Political parties or their leaders were the main recipients of political contributions made through these bonds, most notably the Congress and Samajwadi Party.
- Election bonds were used by individual donors Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Varun Gupta, B K Goenka, Jainendra Shah, and Monika.
Business Purchasers:
- Apart from the aforementioned companies,
Other corporate buyers included the following:
- Jindal Group, Phillips Carbon Black Limited
- CEAT Tyres, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
- ITC
- Kaypee Enterprises, Cipla
- Torrent Power
- DLF Commercial Developers
- Apollo Tyres
- Edelweiss
- PVR
- Keventer
- Sula Wines
- Welspun
- Sun Pharma
- Vardhman Textiles and Ultratech Cement.
- Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital in Ghaziabad bought 162 bonds, most of which were for Rs 1 crore.
- Bonds of Rs 18 crore were obtained by Bajaj Auto and Rs 20 crore by Bajaj Finance.
Three IndiGo firms spent a total of Rs 36 crore in bonds.
Spicejet purchased Rs 65 lakh worth of bonds.
IndiGo’s Rahul Bhatia invested Rs 20 crore in bonds.
Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd, situated in Mumbai, obtained bonds totaling Rs 410 crore.
Haldia Energy purchased bonds for Rs 377 crore.
Notable Acquisitions of Corporate Bonds:
- Upcoming Hotel and Gaming Services: INR 1,368 Cr
- Megha Infrastructure and Engineering Ltd.: 966 crore rupees
- Vedanta Ltd.: 400 crore rupees
- Bharti Group: 247 million rupees
- 224 crore rupees for Essel Mining and Industries Ltd.
- Rs 220 crore for power transmission in Western UP
- 194 crore rupees for Keventer Foodpark Infra Ltd.
- Madanlal Ltd.: 185 crore rupees
- DLF Group: 170 crore rupees
- International Utkal Alumina: Rs. 145.3 crore
- 123 crore rupees for Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.
- India’s Birla Carbon: Rs 105 crore
- Rungta Sons: 100 crore rupees.
- Dr. Reddy’s: 80 crore rupees
- Group Piramal Enterprises: 60 crore rupees
- Armyuga Engineering: 55 crore rupees
- Rs 40 crore is Shirdi Sai Electricals.
- Cipla Ltd.: 39.2 crore rupees
- Rs 35 crore for Lakshmi Niwas Mittal
- Grasim Industries: 33 million rupees
- Jindal Stainless: Rs 30 crore
- Bajaj Auto: Rs 25 crore
- Sun Pharma Laboratories: Rs 25 crore
- Mankind Pharma: Rs 24 crore
- Bajaj Finance: Rs 20 crore
- Maruti Suzuki India: Rs 20 crore
- Ultratech: Rs 15 crore
- TVS Motors: Rs 10 crore
- Edelweiss Group: Rs 4 crore
22,217 electoral bonds were bought between April 1, 2019, and February 15, 2024, according to the State Bank of India. Political parties redeemed the majority of these bonds.
Improving Accountability and Transparency in Political Funding:
Before this, the Election Commission was instructed by the Supreme Court to receive complete information from the SBI to maintain accountability and openness in political fundraising. In addition to buyer information, the SBI supplied the EC with facts about bond encashment dates and the political parties that received the funds.
The State Bank of India (SBI) gave electoral bond data to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 12, 2024, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders, which were issued in its orders dated February 15 and March 11, 2024 (in the case of WPC NO.880 of 2017).” The election commission declared.
“The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the electoral bond data on its website as received from SBI on a ‘as is where is’ basis,” it stated.
The following URL provides access to additional information on this topic: https://www.eci.gov.in/candidate-politicalparty
Notably, the ECI has continuously pushed for openness and transparency in this case, as evidenced by the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s procedures and stressed in the court’s rulings as well,” the EC stated.
As to an earlier report published by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), between March 2018 and January 2024, electoral bonds valued at Rs 16,518 crore were offered.
With contributions through electoral bonds totaling Rs 6,566 crore, or 54.77 percent, the BJP won the most share. The Congress came in second with Rs 1,123 crore, or 9.37 percent, while Trinamool Congress came in third with Rs 1,092 crore or 9.11 percent.
The objective of this program is to guarantee that monies are traceable and accounted for while also improving the transparency of political contributions.
