The much-awaited data around electoral bonds provided by the State Bank of India and released by the Election Commission of India on Thursday revealed that hundreds of crores of rupees were spent by the health and pharmaceutical sector in their purchase.
The top buyer was Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital, which bought 162 bonds of Rs 1 crore each. The second in line is Dr Reddy's Laboratories, with 80 donations of Rs 1 crore each.
Other notable companies include Cipla, Sun, and Bharat Biotech. A curated list of 15 such companies that bought electoral bonds is provided below, in descending order.
Several of these companies had faced raids and probes by investigative agencies.
YASHODA SUPER SPECIALITY HOSPITAL
162 donations, a total of Rs 162 crore
The corporate hospital chain was raided by Income Tax (IT) officials in December 2020.
DR.REDDY'S LABORATORIES LTD
84 donations, a total of Rs 84 crore
In November 2023, IT officials conducted raids on Dr K Nagender Reddy of Dr Reddy's Laboratories over allegations of tax evasion. This was part of a larger operation involving searches at the premises of Telangana Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy.
TORRENT PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED, TORRENT PHARMACEUTICALS LTD
91 donations, a total of Rs 77.5 crore
NATCO PHARMA LTD, NATCO PHARMA LIMITED
76 donations, a total of Rs 69.25 crore
HETERO DRUGS LIMITED, HETERO LABS LIMITED, HETERO BIOPHARMA LIMITED
60 donations, a total of Rs 60 crore
IT raids allegedly detected Rs 550 crore unaccounted income linked to the firm.
DIVI S LABORATORIES LIMITED
55 donations, a total of Rs 55 crore
Hyderabad-based Divi's Laboratory faced IT Action in February 2019.
AUROBINDO PHARMA LIMITED, AUROBINDO PHARMA LTD
70 donations, a total of Rs 52 crore
The Enforcement Directorate, in November 2022, arrested Sarath Reddy, Director of Aurobindo Pharma in connection with a money laundering probe related to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
CIPLA LTD, CIPLA LIMITED
41 donations, total Rs 39.2 crore
MSN PHARMACHEM PVT LTD, MSN LABORATORIES PVT LTD, MSN ORGANICS PVT LTD
38 donations, total Rs 38 crore
The Income Tax Department conducted raids on the premises of MSN Pharma and its offices in 2021.
SUN PHARMA LABORATORIES LIMITED, SUN PHARMA LABORATORIES LTD
36 donations, total Rs 31.5 crore
MANKIND PHARMA LIMITED
30 donations, total Rs 24.6 crore
The Income Tax Department on May 11 conducted raids on the premises of Mankind Pharma over allegations of tax evasion.
INTAS PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED
20 donations, total Rs 20 crore
BHARAT BIOTECH INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
10 donations, total Rs 10 crore
GLENMARK PHARMACEUTICALS LTD
21 donations, total Rs 9.75 crore
KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW
6 donations, total Rs 6 crore
A cursory glance at the data reveals that the total worth of electoral bonds bought by this sector amounts to more than Rs 900 crore.
Additionally, at least 14 out of the top 30 companies which purchased electoral bonds from 12 April 2019 to 24 January 2024 faced action by central or state probe agencies. Read the full story here.
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on 15 February struck down unanimously the electoral bonds scheme notified on 2 January 2018 by the Government of India
The apex court even dismissed the petition of the SBI on 11 March and directed it to submit the details concerning electoral bonds to the ECI on by the close of business hours on 12 March.
Follow The Quint's coverage of electoral bonds here.
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