Electoral bonds: Top electoral donors, SBI gave the complete list to the Election Commission
New Delhi. The State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday, March 21, submitted the complete data related to electoral bonds to the Election Commission. Along with this, it is informed to the Supreme Court that it has submitted the complete list of electoral bond data including alpha numeric code to the Election Commission. According to the data, the total amount encashed through electoral bonds was Rs 12,145.87 crore. The share of the top 10 donors in this amount was 33 percent i.e. Rs 4,548.30 crore.
Who are the biggest donors and beneficiaries of electoral bonds?
Lottery firms Future Gaming and Megha Infrastructure were the biggest buyers of electoral bonds, while BJP and TMC were the biggest beneficiaries. According to SBI data, lottery king Sebastian Martin’s firm Future Gaming and Hotel Services was the biggest donor of this scheme, which bought bonds worth Rs 1,365 crore. Megha Engineering and Infrastructures came second, buying bonds worth Rs 966 crore and donating. Quick Supply Chain came third, buying bonds worth Rs 410 crore.Vedanta Limited bought bonds worth Rs 400 crore and stood at number four. Haldia Energy Limited, the leading thermal plant company of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, bought electoral bonds worth Rs 377 crore and stood at number five. Essel Mining encashed bonds worth Rs 224.5 crore, while Western UP Power Transmission Company encashed bonds worth Rs 220 crore. In terms of electoral bonds, telecom giant Bharti Airtel stood at number eight with bonds worth Rs 198 crore. Kolkata-based FMCG group Keventers Foodpark Limited and steel products manufacturer MKJ Enterprises bought electoral bonds worth Rs 195 and Rs 192.4 crore respectively.
Which parties get the most benefit from electoral donations?
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bond scheme, which received electoral donations of Rs 6,000 crore in the last 4 years. Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering (MEIL) was the biggest donor to the BJP, buying bonds worth Rs 519 crore. Quick Supply donated Rs 375 crore, followed by Vedanta at Rs 226.7 crore and Bharti Airtel at Rs 183 crore. The BJP also received election donations from companies such as Madanlal Limited (Rs 175.5 crore), Keventers Foodpark Infra (Rs 144.5 crore) and DLF Commercial Developers (Rs 130 crore).
