Electoral Bonds Data: Among Top 5 Donors, Who is Behind Haldia Energy Ltd?

Before you read this, here's a personal appeal. If you like our journalism, support us by becoming a member. Your support will help us continue to tell stories that matter to you.The much-awaited electoral bonds data was released on the evening of Thursday, 14 March, following the Supreme Court directions.In the list of companies that has come forth, Haldia Energy Limited (HEL) can be seen as one of top five donors with Rs 377 crore worth of donations — made in May 2019, October 2020, April 2021, July 2021,October 2021, July 2022, January 2023 and January 2024.Haldia Energy, a West-Bengal based company, had been booked by the CBI in 2020 in a case of alleged corruption. Sanjiv Goenka has been the Director of the company, which was established on 29 November 1994, since January 2018."The Group's businesses include power and energy, carbon black manufacturing, retail, IT-enabled services, FMCG, media and entertainment, and agriculture," the company's website reads.Two days ago, The State Bank of India (SBI) had informed the Supreme Court that it has furnished details of the purchase and redemption of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in line with the top court’s directions.What We Know So Far: As per data publicly available, Haldia Energy Limited is registered at Registrar of Companies in Kolkata.The company is involved in "Architectural, engineering and other technical activities."The SC-SBI Saga: What Happens to Electoral Bonds Now?Among the top donors, Haldia Energy Limited bought 375 bonds worth Rs 1 crore each, among the total donation that they have made.Other directors of Haldia Energy Limited are Debanjan Mandal, Noshir Naval Framjee, Gargi Chatterjea and Rabi Chowdhury.Sanjiv is the brother of noted businessman Harsh Goenka and is the founder and chairman of RPSG Group. Sanjiv Goenka paid close to a billion dollars to buy Indian Premier League's (IPL) Lucknow franchise in October 2021.Three weeks ago, news agency PTI reported that Sanjiv's RPSG Group, which now has a revenue exceeding USD 4 billion, had expressed interest in exploring investment opportunities in north-east India, including renewable energy.Haldia group also seemed to have donated to BJP prior to the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021, as per this Reuters report.The group was also involved in an online bidding for the Sarisatolli coal mine in West Bengal, as reported by The Reporters' Collective. "Three of those five bidders, including the winner, belonged to the same conglomerate, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG) group, previously undisclosed internal documents of India’s top auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), reveal," it read.His company allegedly colluded through subsidiaries to artificially lower the bids being offered for the coal block. Through another company acquired two days before the auction, they reportedly tendered a bid from the same private IP address by its parent company and the bid-winner, the Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC).The Reporters' Collective story also alleged that two days prior to the date to apply for the auction of the coal block in January 2015, CESC, along with two of its subsidiaries: Haldia Energy Ltd and Dhariwal Infrastructure, acquired the three shell companies – Sheesham Commercial Private Limited, Wigeon Commotrade Private Limited and Water Hyacinth Commosale Private Limited.Thereafter, CESC, Sheesham Commercial and Haldia Energy, participated in the auction of the Sarisatolli block.In fact, Dhariwal Infrastructure Limited, another subsidiary of Goenka's group, also features among the donors in the list.Does the Supreme Court's Electoral Bonds Judgment Leave Corporates in the Lurch?The Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG Group won the rights to operate the Lucknow franchise with a bid of Rs 7,090 crores (equivalent to Rs 80 billion or $1 billion in 2023). In a post on X (formerly Twitter) in December last year, he referred to BCCI Chief Jay Shah, who is Union Home Minister Amit Shah's son, as a "visionary" who led the BCCI team to "deliver yet another world class auction experience."In November 2014, he was seen with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the inauguration of the thermal power plant in Haldia.In November 2023, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had targeted Goenka and asked him to reveal his political funding including electoral bonds to the ruling TMC since it came to power in the state, as per the Deccan Chronicle.Explained: Why SC Refused To Give SBI More Time To Provide Electoral Bonds Data