After the cancellation of election bonds, money is going into the accounts of political parties through electoral trusts, who donated the most?

After the Supreme Court declared the Electoral Bond Scheme unconstitutional, it was believed that transparency in political funding would increase, but the reality seems to be the opposite. Now after the bond is closed electoral trust It has emerged as a new and important means of raising funds for political parties. Instead of giving money directly to the party, corporate companies are transferring crores of rupees through trusts. The question is who donated the most, which party benefited and is this system really transparent?

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According to the Indian Express, nine electoral trusts donated a total of Rs 3,811 crore to political parties in 2024-2025 in the first financial year after the Supreme Court struck down the government’s secret political funding scheme through electoral bonds. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party at the Centre, received Rs 3,112 crore, which is more than four-fifths (82 percent) of the total funds donated by the trusts.

According to contribution reports submitted by different trusts to the Election Commission of India, about 8 percent or Rs 299 crore of their donations went to the Congress. All other parties together got the remaining 10 percent or Rs 400 crore. However, the total donations received by political parties is much higher because funding through Electoral Trust is only one channel, which forms a major part of election donations.

Political parties received 200 percent more donations

As of December 20, contribution reports of 13 out of 19 currently registered electoral trusts were available with the Election Commission. The nine trusts contributed a total of Rs 3,811 crore to the parties, which is an increase of more than 200% from the total contribution of Rs 1,218 crore made by the trusts in 2023-2024. Four trusts (Janhit, Parivartan, Jaihind and Jaibharat) did not make any contribution in 2024-2025.

BJP alone received 82 percent donations

Prudent Electoral Trust donated to Congress, TMC, AAP, TDP and other parties. However, the bulk or about 82 percent of its total donations of Rs 2,668 crore in 2024-2025 went to BJP.

Prudent Electoral’s largest donor

Prudent Electoral Trust emerged as a major donor to the BJP, donating a total of Rs 2,180.07 crore. The trust received funds from companies like Jindal Steel and Power, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited, Bharti Airtel, Aurobindo Pharma, Torrent Pharmaceuticals to name a few.

SC had declared electoral bonds illegal

In the last financial year i.e. 2023-24, BJP received Rs 3,967.14 crore as voluntary contributions, of which 43 percent or Rs 1,685.62 crore were from electoral bonds. The Supreme Court had canceled the electoral bond scheme in 2024, finding it unconstitutional. As of now, corporate companies can donate to parties through cheque, DD, UPI bank transfer. Parties have to declare donations to the Election Commission in their contribution reports and annual audit reports.

Progressive Electoral Trust collected a fund of Rs 917 crore during the financial year 2024-25 with contributions from several companies. Of this, it donated Rs 914.97 crore. Four-fifths or 80.82 percent of the entire donation went to BJP. The main contributors to the Progressive Electoral Trust included Tata group companies, including Tata Sons Private Limited, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Steels Limited, Tata Motors Limited, Tata Power Company Limited.

How to increase transparency in donations?

Funding of political parties through Electoral Trust is just one major channel. Unlike electoral bonds, there is transparency in donations made by companies to the electoral trust and subsequently to political parties through the trust.

KEC International gave Rs 1 crore to Shiv Sena

Mumbai’s KEC International Limited was the only company which donated to Janpragati Electoral Trust. Of the total Rs 1.02 crore, the trust donated Rs 1 crore to Shiv Sena (UBT). Harmony Electoral Trust received Rs 35.65 crore in donations and gave Rs 30.15 crore to BJP, including Rs 15 lakh to BJP’s Pune unit. The bulk of Harmony’s donation, Rs 22 crore, came from Bharat Forge Limited, Rs 8 crore from Sarloha Advanced Materials Private Limited and Rs 5 crore from Kalyani Steel Limited.