The State Bank of India has issued bonds worth over Rs 10,791 crore in 22 phases between 2018 and 2022 as per information provided in response to an RTI query.
Over 50% of these bonds were in the Rs1 crore category. In 2022, the electoral bonds issued amounted to over Rs 2,796 crore, with over 96% issued in the Rs 1 crore category. In fact, in July and October, of the Rs 389 crore and Rs 741 crore worth of bonds issued, over 90% were in the Rs 1 crore category.
Less than 1% of the bonds issued were worth less than Rs10,000. Electoral bonds were introduced as an alternative to cash donations to bring transparency to the political funding process. When the bond scheme was introduced in 2018, the government had stated that they would be available for 10 days each in January, April, July, and October.
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It was also stated that an additional period (30 days) could be specified by the Centre.
Recent amendments to electoral bonds
Recently, the government amended the provisions to issue bonds before assembly elections and that the 23rd phase bonds will be issued ahead of the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat elections.
The information was provided to Pune resident Vihar Durve, who sought details of the total number of bonds issued, the branches where they were issued and encashed, and the denominations in which they were issued.
Most bonds were issued from Mumbai
Most bonds were issued from Mumbai between 2018 and 2022, accounting for over 25% of issuance at Rs 2,742 crore. This was followed by Kolkatta (Rs 2,387 crore), Hyderabad (Rs 1,853 crore), and Delhi (1,519 crore). Encashment of most bonds, however, took place in Delhi. As per the information provided, more than Rs 6,748 crore (62.67%) of bonds were encashed in New Delhi, followed by Hyderabad at Rs1,384 crore (12.85%), Kolkata with Rs 1,012 crore (9.4%), and Mumbai at Rs 194 crore (1.80%). Bonds issued in July 2022 and October 2022 have been encashed to almost the full amount of their issuance.
July saw bonds worth Rs389 crore being issued and as many were encashed.In October, bonds worth Rs 545 crore were issued, while those worth Rs 542 crore were encashed. “The issuance of bonds shows that most funding happens in the Rs 1 crore category. A common man does not have this kind of money. It is clear that the cronies are funding the political parties and that is why till now the details are not being provided as to who thepurchasers are,” said Mr Durve.
