Analysis of Sources of Funding of National Parties of India, FY 2023-24
Key Findings
An analysis of the audit reports and donation statements of National political parties filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI) reveals that some part of these sources remains unknown. At present, political parties are not required to reveal the names of individuals or organizations giving less than Rs. 20,000. As a result, 3.425% or Rs 199.3683 cr of the funds cannot be traced and are from ‘unknown’ sources.
It must be noted that with the availability of the electoral bonds data in public domain after the Supreme Court’s judgement last year, the donations via electoral bonds will be categorized under known sources of donations for the purpose of this report. Additionally, donation details disclosed under the partially opaque Electoral Trusts Scheme do not reveal (to the general public) which company/individual contributes to which party through the trusts.
For this analysis, 6 National parties were considered – BJP, INC, CPI(M), BSP, AAP and NPEP. However, BSP declared that it did not receive any funds from voluntary contributions (above or below Rs 20,000), Sale of Coupons, Electoral Bonds or Unknown Sources of income. The BSP party received a total income of Rs 64.7798 crore from other known sources, which includes Rs 38.1893 cr from bank interest, Rs 26.59 cr from membership fees, and Rs 5,000 from interest income on security.
Total income of 6 National political parties in FY 2023-24: Rs 5820.912 cr.
Total income of political parties from known donors (details of donors as available from contribution report submitted by parties to Election Commission and analysed by ADR here): Rs 2544.278 cr,which is 43.71% of the total income of the parties.
Total income of political parties from other known sources (e.g. sale of assets, membership fees, bank interest, sale of publications, party levy etc.): Rs 553.1298 cr, or 9.502% of the total income.
Total income of political parties from Electoral Bonds: Rs 2524.136 cr, of 43.363% of the total income.
Total income of political parties from unknown sources (income specified in the annual audit report whose sources are unknown): Rs 199.3683 cr, which is 3.425 % of the total income of the parties.
Observations
- Between FY 2004-05 and 2023-24, the National Parties collected Rs 10,753.09 cr from unknown sources (excluding electoral bonds).
- During the financial year 2023-24, CPI(M) declared the highest income from 'unknown sources' at Rs 82.0759 cr, followed by INC with Rs 78.7298 cr, BJP with Rs 37.6037 cr, AAP with Rs 0.93 cr, and NPEP with Rs 0.0289 cr. These figures reflect that a certain share of political funding for major parties still originates from undisclosed sources.
- In the financial year 2023-24, INC and CPI(M) together earned a total income of Rs 69.8816 cr from the sale of coupons.