Electoral Bonds: Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited Donated 410 Crore
India’s Election Commission published the electoral bond data on March 14 after the SBI submitted the information following the Supreme Court admonition earlier this week. The data published yesterday shows that a total of 1,260 companies and individuals purchased the bonds worth whopping Rs 12,769 crore. Out of the total purchasers of the bonds, the third largest is the Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited, with a donation of Rs 410 crores to political parties through electoral bonds.
According to the data released yesterday, the company purchased a bond of Rs 360 crore in the financial year 2020-21, which was reportedly far above the firm’s net profit of the same year. The 2020-21 net profit of Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited was a mere Rs 21.72 crores, according to reports by The Reporters Collective.
Notably, before the introduction of the electoral bond by the central government, there was a condition that a company could only donate 7.5 percent of the average profit of the preceding three fiscal years. But, with the electoral bond’s introduction, the government removed this boundary, permitting the companies to donate limitlessly.
According to reports, the company is linked to industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group. Out of the three directors of the Qwik Supply Chain company, Tapas Mitra is also the director of other 26 firms including Reliance Eros Productions LLP and Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline Company Private Limited. Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline is also registered in Ahmedabad at an address shared by several other Reliance companies, affirming Mr Mitra’s link with Reliance Group.
Additionally, the LinkedIn account of Mr Mitra introduces himself as the Head of Accounts (Consolidation) at Reliance Industries Limited, noting that he heads the accounts of several companies companies in Reliance.
The Coimbatore-based lottery giant, Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR headed by Santiago Martin is the biggest donator through the electoral bond with a donation of a whopping Rs 1,368 crore to political parties. The company has been undergoing investigation for money laundering. Hyderabad-based infrastructure giant Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited is the second largest donor. The company purchased a bond of a cumulative Rs 1,186 crore.
The information regarding the donations was released after the Supreme Court on February 15 struck down the controversial electoral bonds introduced by the central government in 2018, calling it unconstitutional and non-transparent. The top Court had asked the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose the electoral bond data by March 6 while directing the Election Commission to publish it by March 14.
