Vedanta Board Approves Rs 200 Crore Political Donations Ahead of State Elections

26 Dec 2023 , 01:20 PM

Vedanta Ltd’s board approved a resolution in November for Rs 200 crore in political donations. The approval coincided with upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Mizoram.

The board also reinstated an unutilized limit of Rs 57 crore approved in June for political party donations. Both approved limits are valid until March 2025.

The resolution allowed contributions directly or through an electoral trust, including subscription to electoral bonds. Chairman and Vice Chairman are authorized to decide the quantum of political contributions to individual parties.

Anil Agarwal serves as the executive chairman, and Navin Agarwal is the executive vice chairman. The electoral bond scheme, launched in 2018, facilitates anonymous funding by individuals or corporates.

Between 2018 and 2022, an estimated Rs 13,791 crore was released as political donations via electoral bonds.

The State Bank of India executed the 29th tranche of electoral bond sales between November 4 and November 20, selling Rs 1,006 crore worth of electoral bonds. Hyderabad recorded the highest sales at Rs 359 crore, followed by Mumbai (Rs 259.30 crore) and New Delhi (Rs 182.75 crore).

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