According to data published on the website of the Election Commission of India, Future Gaming and Hotel Services and Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited have emerged as the leading buyers of electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024. Future Gaming and Hotel Services purchased bonds worth Rs 1,368 crores, while Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited purchased bonds worth Rs 980 crores. It is worth noting that both companies have been subject to scrutiny by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax department, respectively.
The Election Commission has recently uploaded information regarding electoral bonds purchased and encashed since 2019 onto its website. This was done in compliance with a Supreme Court order, which required the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide details of anonymous bond purchasers and encashers. The Election Commission was also directed to publish this data on its website by March 15. The uploaded data consists of two documents: a list of purchases made by companies, organized by date, and a list of deposits made by political parties that have encashed these bonds, also organized by date.
Future Gaming: Under the ED’s lens
Between October 21, 2020, and January 9, 2024, Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR has made a generous donation of Rs 1,368 crore. This Coimbatore-based company, led by its founder Santiago Martin, is renowned as one of India’s largest lottery companies, often referred to as the “lottery king.”
However, the company has faced scrutiny from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) due to allegations of money laundering. In July 2019, assets worth Rs 120 crore were attached by the ED in connection with an alleged money laundering scam. Santiago Martin was accused of inflating prize money and acquiring properties through unaccounted cash.
The ED had previously conducted searches at over 70 locations associated with the company. Despite these actions, Future Gaming proceeded to purchase electoral bonds, as revealed by data from the Election Commission. The company’s first purchase of electoral bonds was recorded on October 21, 2019.
The ED continued to investigate Future Gaming, conducting searches at its premises in Tamil Nadu as recently as last week. These searches were related to an alleged sand mining case, according to the Press Trust of India.
On April 2, 2022, the ED initiated a money laundering probe against the company and seized assets worth Rs 409.92 crore. Shortly after, on April 7, 2022, Future Gaming purchased approximately Rs 100 crore worth of bonds, as indicated by the Election Commission’s data.
In July 2022, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an election watchdog, analyzed the Contribution Reports of Electoral Trusts submitted to the Election Commission of India. They discovered that Future Gaming had donated Rs 100 crore to Prudent Electoral Trust, which had made the highest donation to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
These contributions made by raided companies during ongoing investigations raise questions about their intentions. Arun Srikumar, a lawyer at Keystone Partners, tweeted that such political contributions during raids could be seen as protection money, suggesting a lack of genuine motives behind these donations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) obtained approximately 55% of the total value of electoral bonds, amounting to Rs 6,564 crore, out of the total Rs 12,008 crore worth of electoral bonds sold between 2017-2018 and 2022-2023.
Megha Engineering Infrastructure Ltd
Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited, the second largest contributor, has acquired a total of Rs 980 crores between April 12, 2019 and October 12, 2023, with each acquisition amounting to Rs 1 crore.
Based in Hyderabad, Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited is described as an emerging player in the global infrastructure industry on its official website. The company, owned by P.V. Krishna Reddy and P.P. Reddy, is involved in various projects related to irrigation, water management, power, hydrocarbons, transportation, buildings, and industrial infrastructure. It is known for its expertise in public-private partnerships (PPP) with both central and state governments, and is currently engaged in projects across 18 states in India.
A quick internet search reveals that the company has successfully secured significant projects, such as the Mongol Refinery Project in Mongolia, worth Rs 5,400 crore, which is a government-to-government initiative. In addition, it has also won two separate contracts for the Thane-Borivali twin tunnel project in Mumbai, with a combined bid value of Rs 14,400 crore, as well as a Rs 500-crore order from the Ministry of Defence for its subsidiary, IComm.
The company’s website also mentions its involvement in other notable projects, including the Zojila tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir, the Char Dham Rail Tunnel, the six-laning of Vijayawada bypass, the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, the Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, and the Solapur-Kurnool-Chennai Economic Corridor.
Furthermore, Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited’s subsidiary, Western UP Power Transmission Company Limited, has made a significant contribution of Rs 220 crores in electoral bonds, ranking seventh on the list published by the Election Commission.
According to a report in the Hindu BusinessLine, the income tax department conducted an “inspection” at the company’s offices in Hyderabad on October 12, 2019.
The company stated that the inspection conducted by the Income Tax Department was a routine one and not a raid or search, as reported by the outlet.
In January 2024, the Deccan Chronicle reported on a CAG audit report that accused Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) of misappropriating public funds in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) in Telangana. The report claimed that the company had received an excess payment of Rs.5,188.43 crore for supplying and commissioning pumps, motors, and auxiliary equipment in just four packages.
Chennai Greenwoods
This lesser-known construction company ranks among the top 20 contributors, having purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 105 crore. The company is under the ownership of the Andhra-based Ramky group. In July 2021, Ramky was subjected to a raid by the Income Tax authorities. “The IT officials discovered numerous implicating documents and loose sheets, which were confiscated. These findings pointed towards the group’s involvement in unrecorded transactions,” stated the IT department. Ramky, accused of possessing unrecorded income amounting to Rs 300 crore, acquired its initial electoral bonds in January 2022, followed by additional purchases in April 2022 and once again in 2023.
Qwik Supply Chain Pvt. Ltd
Based on the information available on Zauba Corp, the company was established in 2000, making it 23 years old. The ECI’s website data reveals that Qwik Supply Chain, a company associated with the Reliance group, initiated its bond purchases on January 5, 2022. Subsequent purchases were made on January 10, November 11, 2022, and November 17, 2023, all in Rs 1 crore denominations. The current directors of the company are Vipul Pranlal Mehta and Tapas Mitra. Tapas Mitra, as per Zauba Corp, also serves as a director in various other companies linked to Reliance. In the financial year 2021-2022, Mitra received a salary of Rs 46.1 lakh as a “whole-time director” along with additional perks amounting to Rs 3.53 lakh. The company’s office is located in Dhobi Talao, South Mumbai, as per Zauba Corp records. Quick Supply Chain Private Limited, as stated on the company’s website, is primarily involved in providing logistics and support services to its clients. The financial details for the year 2022-23 indicate that the company’s major turnover (91.1%) is attributed to land transport, while 8.3% comes from providing support services to other organizations, and a small portion is from wholesale trading.
Haldia Energy Limited
Sanjeev Goenka’s Haldia Energy Limited emerged as the fourth largest contributor via electoral bonds, donating a total of Rs 377 crore between October 1, 2019 and January 5, 2024. The Kolkata-based billionaire is the owner of the RP-Sanjeev Goenka group, which operates in various sectors such as power and energy, retail, IT, FMCG, media and entertainment, infrastructure, and education.
Haldia Energy Limited operates a coal-based thermal power plant in Haldia, West Bengal, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, a key company within the RP-Sanjeev Goenka group.
The company initiated its electoral bond purchases on October 1, 2019 with an initial investment of Rs 1 crore. Subsequently, the frequency of purchases increased each year, along with the donation amounts. In 2020, the company purchased bonds worth Rs 21 crore in three installments, followed by Rs 105 crore in 2021 across five transactions.
In 2022, Haldia Energy Limited acquired bonds worth Rs 85 crore, and in 2023, it spent Rs 115 crore on electoral bonds. The most recent purchase was on January 5, 2024, amounting to Rs 35 crore.
The company’s first bond purchase was on May 7, 2019, consisting of 24 electoral bonds worth Rs 14 crore (1 crore each) and an additional 1 crore through ten bonds, each valued at Rs 10 lakh.
Another entity under Goenka’s ownership, Dhariwal Infrastructure Ltd., purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 115 crore.
Last year, Suvendu Adhikari, a prominent leader of the West Bengal BJP, accused Sanjeev Goenka of financing the Trinamool Congress through electoral bonds and other means.
Sanjeev Goenka, the owner of IPL team Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata-based ISL football club Mohun Bagan Super Giant, has been expanding his business ventures into the north-eastern states, particularly focusing on investments in the renewable energy sector. During a meeting with the minister of state for development of the north-eastern region, B.L.Verma, his company officials expressed their interest in developing hydro-power projects in the region.
CESC has also shown interest in solar power generation in Rajasthan and Gujarat, with plans to acquire more than 50,000 acres of land for its upcoming projects.
In January 2024, CESC successfully outbid several companies to establish a 10,500-tonne per annum green hydrogen production facility. The tender for this project was issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd, with companies like ACME Cleantech, Sembcorp, Greenko, Avaada, Reliance Industries, JSW Energy, and the Adani group participating in the bidding process.
Sanjeev Goenka’s CESC and RPG Enterprises have been under investigation by the CBI since 2012 for alleged corruption, cheating, and criminal conspiracy related to the allocation of coal blocks in Deocha Pachami, Tara West, Mahan, and South Dadhu between 1993-95.
Vedanta
Vedanta emerged as the fifth largest purchaser of electoral bonds, attracting attention due to the controversial inclusion of electoral bonds in the finance bill. During this period, a money Bill was utilized to retroactively amend the FCRA, specifically in relation to Vedanta. The Modi government introduced significant changes to the FCRA to legalize donations made by Vedanta to both the BJP and the Congress. These changes were implemented as a one-time, retrospective amendment to the FCRA, providing exemptions to the BJP and Congress from violating Section 3 of the Act, which prohibits political parties, their office-bearers, and members of any House from accepting contributions from foreign companies or Indian companies controlled by foreign entities.
Vedanta purchased electoral bonds amounting to Rs 375.65 crore, acquiring 73 bonds valued at Rs 1 crore each on January 10, 2022. Livemint disclosed on January 14, 2022, that the Vedanta Group expressed interest in acquiring Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) for $12 billion, marking one of India’s largest state-owned refiner acquisitions, which faced delays in finalization.
Billionaire chairman Anil Agarwal stated in an interview, “We will not aggressively bid, but we will offer the appropriate price.”
“The company’s market capitalization is around $11 billion to $12 billion, which is the investment amount we are considering.”
If this disinvestment had proceeded, it would have been a significant privatization initiative. However, the process was terminated when two out of the three companies interested in acquiring the public sector undertaking withdrew their bids.
On April 22, Agarwal informed Moneycontrol that the government has retracted its offer to sell its stake in BPCL and will devise a new strategy. BPCL, the second-largest oil marketing company in India, follows closely behind Indian Oil.
M.K. Venu, the founding editor of The Wire, raised an intriguing point. He noted that the Vedanta group donated bonds while it was being investigated by the ED/CBI from 2019 to 2022. During this period, the group was also selected for PM Modi’s ambitious semiconductor project in Gujarat, for which the government proposed a substantial grant of $5 billion. However, the project did not materialize.