After the Supreme Court scrapped the electoral bonds scheme in February 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party received donations worth Rs 6,073 crore in the 2024-25 financial year, a 53 per cent increase from Rs 3,967 crore the previous year. Most of this came from electoral trusts, which donated a total of Rs 3,811 crore, with 82 per cent going to the BJP. Other parties, including Congress, received smaller shares.
The Supreme Court declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional and scrapped it in February 2024, ending anonymous political donations. Yet, donations to the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024-25 showed no decline; instead, they rose 53 per cent to Rs 6,073 crore from Rs 3,967 crore in 2023-24. According to the party's contribution report, Rs 3,112 crore came from electoral trusts—82 per cent of their total Rs 3,811 crore donations—while the remaining Rs 2,961 crore were from individuals and corporates.
Trust donations overall tripled to Rs 3,811 crore from Rs 1,218 crore the previous year. Prudent Electoral Trust was the largest contributor to the BJP with Rs 2,180 crore, funded by companies like Jindal Steel and Power, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, Bharti Airtel, and Aurobindo Pharma. Progressive Electoral Trust donated Rs 914.97 crore, with 80.82 per cent going to the BJP, primarily from Tata group firms including Tata Sons, TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Tata Power.
Other trusts followed suit: New Democratic Electoral Trust gave Rs 150 crore to the BJP from Mahindra & Mahindra contributions, while Triumph Electoral Trust allocated Rs 21 crore from CG Power. Harmony Electoral Trust contributed Rs 30.15 crore to the BJP, sourced from Bharat Forge and others. Jankalyan split its Rs 19 lakh between BJP and Congress.
Besides trusts, top donors included Serum Institute of India (Rs 100 crore), Rungta Sons Private Limited (Rs 95 crore), and Vedanta Limited (Rs 67 crore). ITC Limited, Hero Enterprises, and Mankind Pharma also featured prominently. Congress received Rs 299 crore (8 per cent) from trusts, with others getting Rs 400 crore.
These donations mark the highest for the BJP in five years. Corporates now donate via cheque, demand draft, or bank transfer, ensuring transparency. Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, defending the 2017-18 scheme, had said: 'Cash donations are anonymous or pseudonymous... Cheques involve disclosure of donor identity, though not very popular in India.'
