New Delhi: The State Bank of India (SBI) has yet to invoice the government for the printing of 8,350 electoral bonds valued at Rs 1 crore each, a scheme rendered obsolete after the Supreme Court’s decision to scrap it in February. Additionally, the government may need to allocate Rs 43.90 lakh to settle SBI’s fees for the 30th phase of electoral bond sales in January.
In response to an RTI application by Commodore Lokesh K Batra (Retd), the Department of Economic Affairs confirmed that the final bill for the 8,350 bonds has not been received. The government has already paid Rs 12.04 crore (inclusive of GST) in commission for 30 phases of electoral bond sales, with an additional Rs 43.90 lakh pending for the 30th phase.
While the commission for the 30th phase is yet to be processed, the government has incurred printing costs of Rs 1.9 crore (inclusive of GST) for electoral bonds so far. Additionally, Rs 6,720 has been charged for a security verification device.
Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, 8,350 electoral bonds worth Rs 8,350 crore were printed between December 29, 2023, and February 15, 2024. Overall, 6.826 lakh electoral bonds have been printed to date, including 33,000 bonds worth Rs 33,000 crore and 26,600 bonds worth Rs 2,660 crore. Corporate entities and high net worth individuals have been significant contributors to the total of Rs 16,518 crore raised by political parties through the Electoral Bond Scheme since 2018.
The scheme’s cancellation by the Supreme Court before the announcement of election dates halted plans for a 31st phase of bond sales, which would have been lucrative for parties. This has brought attention to the financial burden borne by the government and taxpayers to facilitate opaque political funding through the Electoral Bonds Scheme.
