BJP received Rs 532 crore from 1,194 donations: ADR report

The BJP declared that it had received Rs 532 crore from 1,194 donations. The Congress on the other hand said it got from 599 donations a sum of Rs 41.90 crore.
A report prepared by the Association for Democratic Reforms focused on the donations received by the National Political Parties, above Rs 20,000, during the Financial Year 2016-17.

Donations above Rs 20,000 to National Parties from all over India (FY 2016-17):

• The total donations (above Rs 20,000) declared by the National Parties was Rs. 589.38 cr, from 2123 donations.
• A total of Rs 532.27 cr was declared by BJP from 1194 donations while INC declared receiving Rs 41.90 cr from 599 donations. The donations declared by BJP is more than nine times the aggregate declared by INC, NCP, CPI, CPM and AITC for the same period.
• BSP declared that the party did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000 during FY 2016-17, as it has been declaring for the past 11 years.

Comparison of donations received by National Parties during FY 2015-16 and FY 2016-17:

• The total donations of the National Parties during FY 2016-17 increased by Rs 487.36 cr, an increase of 478%, from Rs 102.02 cr declared during the previous financial year, 2015-16.
• Donations to BJP increased from Rs 76.85 cr during FY 2015-16 to Rs 532.27 cr during FY 2016-17 (593% increase) while NCP has declared an increase of 793%, from Rs 71 lakhs in FY 2015-16 to Rs 6.34 cr in FY 2016-17.
• Donations to AITC increased by 231%, CPM and INC have declared increase of 190% and 105% respectively as per their donation reports for FY- 2015-16 and 2016-17, while that of CPI decreased by 9%.

Sources of income of National Parties - FY 2016-17

• Total income of National Parties (as per their audit reports) for FY 2016-17 - Rs 1559.17 cr.
• Total income of the National Parties from known donors (details of donors as available from contribution report submitted by parties to Election Commission): Rs 589.38 cr, which is 37.8% of the total income of the 7 National parties during FY 2016-17.
• Total income of the parties from other known sources (e.g., sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy etc.): Rs 258.99 cr, or 16.61% of total income.
• Total income of the seven National Parties from unknown sources (income specified in the IT Returns whose sources are unknown), for the FY 2016-17 is Rs 710.80 cr, which is 45.59% of the total income of the parties from all over India.

Details of unknown sources of income as declared by the parties in their IT Returns

• Among the unknown sources of funding, maximum funds were collected under "Voluntary Contributions" by BJP during FY 2016-17. A total of Rs 464.84 cr was collected under this head which formed 99.98% of the total income from unknown sources of BJP.
• The most preferred unknown source of funding for INC was "Sale of coupons" under the party collected a total of Rs 115.64 cr which formed 91.69% of the party's total income from unknown sources during FY 2016-17.

State-wise donations to National Parties - by Cash, cheque/ DD, bank transfers

• Segregation of donations according to State was made by ADR/NEW based on the address provided by the parties in their donations report to the ECI.
• A total of Rs 290.90 cr was donated to the National Parties from Delhi, followed by Rs 112.31 cr from Maharashtra and Rs 20.22 cr from Uttar Pradesh.
• A total of Rs 91.91 cr, (15.59% of total donations received by the National parties, FY 2016-17), could not be attributed to any State/ Union Territory due to incomplete information provided by the parties.

Donors from Corporates/ business sectors Vs. Individual donors

• 708 donations to the National Parties were made by corporate/business sectors amounting to Rs 563.24 cr (95.56% of total donations) while 1354 individual donors donated Rs 25.07 cr (4.25% of total donations) to the parties during FY 2016-17.
• 531 donations from corporate/business sectors were made to BJP (Rs 515.43 cr) while 663 individual donors donated Rs 16.82 cr to the party during FY 2016-17.
• INC received a total of Rs 36.06 cr via 98 donations from corporate/business sectors and Rs 5.84 cr via 501 individual donors during FY 2016-17.

Top donors to National Parties, FY 2016-17:

• Satya Electoral Trust donated a total of Rs 265.12 cr to BJP and INC and is one of the top 2 donors to the two parties. The Trust donated Rs 251.22 cr to BJP (94.76% of total funds received by the party) and Rs 13.90 cr to INC (5.24% of total funds received by the party).
• NCP received Rs 2 cr donations from B.G. Shirke Construction Technology Pvt. Ltd. and Rs 1.10 cr from A.N. Enterprises Infra Services Pvt. Ltd.