Ahead Of Assembly Polls, Rs 400 Crore Worth Electoral Bonds Sold By SBI

Electoral bonds worth Rs 400 crore has been sold by the State Bank of India (SBI) in the period of just 10 days in October. The data has been revealed by an RTI application that was filed on the matter. This is said to have taken place as the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh is lined up soon.

In response to the application filed by Factly, the data released shows that majority of the bonds sold were in denominations of one crore rupees. Between 1 and 10 October, Rs 401.73 crore worth electoral bonds were sold by the SBI. The highest number of sales took place in the financial capital Mumbai (37.5 per cent), while Kolkata was the runner-up with Rs 62.2 crore.

The bonds were sold in denominations of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 1 lakh. The bonds of denomination one crore constituted 37.9 per cent of the total sale. Electoral bonds are like promissory notes that bear a value of a certain denomination and are released in segments and are available with the SBI branches as revealed. In return, the donors are given tax exemptions.

Electoral bonds are being pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties and bring transparency in political funding. As per provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India.