Analysis of Donations Received above Rs 20,000 by National Political Parties, FY 2024-25
This report, prepared by ADR, focuses on donations above Rs 20,000, received by the National political parties during the FY 2024-25, as per details submitted by the parties to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The National parties include BJP, INC, BSP, AAP, CPI(M) and NPEP.
Key Findings
The total donations (above Rs 20,000) declared by the National parties for FY 2024-25 was Rs 6648.563 cr from 11,343 donations.
A total of Rs 6074.015 cr from 5522 donations was declared by BJP followed by Rs 517.394 cr from 2501 donations declared by INC. The donations declared by BJP are more than ten times the aggregate declared by INC, AAP, CPI(M) and NPEP for the same period
BSP declared that the party did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000 during FY 2024-25, as it has been declaring for the past 19 years.
Donations to the BJP increased from Rs 2,243.947 cr in FY 2023-24 to Rs 6074.015 cr in FY 2024-25, marking a 171% increase. Similarly, donations to the INC rose from Rs 281.48 cr in FY 2023-24 to Rs 517.394 cr in FY 2024-25, reflecting an 84% increase.
In comparison to the previous financial year, donations declared by AAP increased by 244% or Rs 27.044 cr, while donations declared by NPEP increased by 1313% or Rs 1.943 cr.
A total of Rs 2639.481 cr was donated to the National Parties from Delhi, followed by Rs 2438.86 cr from Maharashtra and Rs 309.177 cr from Gujarat.
3244 donations to the National parties were made by corporate/business sectors amounting to Rs 6128.787 cr (92.18% of total donations) while 7900 individual donors donated Rs 505.66 cr (7.61% of total donations) to the parties during FY 2024-25.
BJP (Rs 5717.167 cr) received more than thirteen times the total amount (Rs 411.62 cr) of corporate donations declared by all other National parties for the FY 2024-25.
Prudent Electoral Trust donated a total of Rs 2413.465 cr to BJP, INC and AAP together and is the top donor to parties that received the maximum donations. The Trust donated Rs 2180.7119 cr to BJP (35.90% of total funds received by the party), Rs 216.335 cr to INC (41.81% of total funds received by the party) and Rs 16.4178 cr to AAP (43.08% of total funds received by the party).
Progressive Electoral Trust donated a total of Rs 757.62 cr to BJP and Rs 77.3495 cr to INC.
Of the 6 National parties, 4 parties namely BJP, CPI(M), INC, NPEP and had not declared PAN details of 205 donations through which the parties collected a total of Rs 3.468 cr.
BJP collected Rs 2.625 cr from 174 donations but failed to provide PAN details of donors. CPI(M) collected Rs 46.90 lakhs cr from 22 donations, INC collected Rs 32.40 lakhs from 4 donations and NPEP collected Rs 5 lakhs from 5 donations without PAN.
3 National parties INC, BJP and CPI(M) have declared 33 donations of Rs 38.80 lakhs having missing/incorrect PAN details for FY 2024-25.
Observations of ADR
- INC, CPI(M) and BJP submitted their contribution reports after a delay of 23 days, 66 days and 68 days, respectively.
- 4 National parties, BJP, INC, NPEP and CPI(M) had not declared PAN details of 205 donations through which the parties collected a total of Rs 3.468 cr (0.052% of the total donations declared by National parties).
- 3 National Parties (CPI(M)- Rs 23.90 lakhs, BJP-Rs 8.40 lakhs and INC- Rs 6.50 lakhs) have declared Rs 38.80 lakhs from 33 donations having missing/incorrect PAN details.
- BJP declared 1656 donations of Rs 224.652 cr, INC collected 515 donations worth Rs 419.474 cr, AAP collected 549 donations of Rs 31.058 cr, CPI(M) collected 303 donations of Rs 8.312 cr and NPEP collected 17 donations of Rs 1.391 cr having incomplete cheque/DD details where cheque number, bank details on which it was drawn and the date on which the cheque was received/encashed is not provided. Thus, without the complete cheque/DD details, it would be a time-consuming process to link the donors against their donations and hence, trace the money trail.
- As done for the last 19 years, BSP has declared again that the party did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000.