12th tranche of electoral bonds to be issued from Oct 1

Ahead of Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, the government on Monday announced issuance of 12th tranche of electoral bonds that could be used to make donations to political parties.

Polls will be held in both Maharashtra and Haryana on October 21, while counting will take place on October 24.

Electoral bonds are being pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.

"State Bank of India (SBI), in the XII phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches with effect from October 1 to October 10," the finance ministry said in a statement.

The 29 specified SBI branches are in cities such as New Delhi, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata and Guwahati.

This is the second issuance of electoral bonds after the conclusion of general elections and formation of the new government in May.

The electoral bonds will be valid for 15 calendar days from the date of issue and no payment will be made to any payee political party if the bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.

The electoral bond deposited by an eligible political party in its account will be credited on the same day.

According to provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India.

Registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds.

SBI is the only authorised bank to issue such bonds. A person can buy electoral bonds, either single or jointly with other individuals.