In the first full financial year since the Supreme Court struck down the controversial Electoral Bond scheme, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has released a report on donations received by the political parties in FY25.
According to the ADR report, the BJP received ₹6,074 crore in donations during FY 2024-25; a staggering 171% jump from ₹2,243 crore in the previous year. The surge places the ruling party far ahead of its competitors, with its declared funds nearly ten times the combined total of four other national parties, including the Congress, AAP, CPI(M) and the National People’s Party (NPEP).
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National parties overall declared ₹6,648.56 cr donations
The report analysed donations of ₹20,000 or more submitted by political parties to the Election Commission of India, offering one of the clearest snapshots yet of post-electoral bond political financing. Overall, national parties collectively declared ₹6,648.56 crore from 11,343 donations in FY25, a sharp 161% rise compared to FY24.
The Congress, while a distant second, also saw a notable increase in contributions, receiving ₹517.39 crore, up 84% from the previous year. According to ADR, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) once again reported zero donations above ₹20,000, like it has been doing for nearly two decades.
A look at top donors
The dominant story in the ADR data is the Prudent Electoral Trust, the country’s richest electoral trust. About 90% of all corporate donations to national parties pass through this single body, which has been among the BJP’s top funders since 2013-14.
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In FY 2024-25, the Trust donated ₹2,413 crore to three parties. The BJP received ₹2,180 crore — nearly 36% of all its declared funds. The Congress received ₹216 crore and the AAP ₹16 crore from the same Trust. Its major contributors include ArcelorMittal Nippon, DLF, Maruti Suzuki and Bharti Airtel.
Other electoral trusts, like Progressive Electoral Trust (₹834 crore), AB General Electoral Trust (₹621 crore) and New Democratic Electoral Trust (₹155 crore), also directed funds primarily to the BJP and Congress. At the individual level, Serum Institute of India donated ₹100 crore and Rungta Sons Private Limited ₹95 crore to the BJP. |
