The State Bank of India (SBI) released statistics on electoral bonds on Thursday that revealed a fascinating donor pool. The top 10 contributors, as revealed on the Election Commission of India website after the Supreme Court’s ruling, work in various industries, including telecom, coal mining, lottery, and food processing. Future Gaming and Hotel Services, a lottery corporation, is the largest contributor, having purchased electoral bonds valued at an astounding Rs 1,368 crore between April 12, 2019, and January 24, 2024. Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd., an industrial group situated in Telangana, is the second-biggest contributor. During that period, the corporation invested Rs 966 crore in electoral bonds.
A member of an agricultural family, PP Reddy launched Megha Engineering in 1989. Over the course of three decades, his nephew PV Krishna Reddy, who assumed leadership in 1991, grew the firm.
Conclusion
When the Income Tax Authority conducted searches on the firm’s facilities in October 2019, the company was investigated. After that, the Enforcement Directorate started investigating the business. Since then, Megha Engineering has spent crores on electoral bonds.
It’s interesting to note that Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD and its Hyderabad-based partner MEIL offered a $1 billion investment to create an electric vehicle manufacturing unit in India, but the Indian government rejected their offer.
