Electoral bonds worth Rs 5,029 crore issued till May 4, reveals RTI reply

At an average of Rs 48 lakh per bond, the State Bank of India (SBI) has issued 10,494 electoral bonds in nine phases so far, worth over Rs 5,029 crore, an RTI response has revealed.

SBI is the only commercial bank which has been authorised by the Centre to issue electoral bonds ever since it was envisaged last year.

In a response to Mumbai-based RTI activist Manoranjan Roy's query on the total numbers of electoral bonds issued and the names of companies or individuals giving the donations, the bank said it has issued 10,494 bonds worth Rs 5,029 crore till phase nine which was completed on May 4.

Bank, however, did not disclose the names of companies or individuals giving donations to political parties citing it to be "third party" information which is exempted under under Section 8(1)(E)(i) of the RTI Act.

Replying to another query on how many of the electoral bonds issued have been submitted for withdrawal, it replied that (out of 10,494 issued) 10,388 bonds have been withdrawn/redeemed till the phase nine.

"The value of these redeemed bonds amounts to Rs 5,011 crore," CPIO and Deputy General Manager (TB Sales & SME) Naresh Kumar Raheja further stated.

Commenting on the reply, Roy said, "Augmentation of electoral bonds are nothing but a legalised route to have an unholy nexus between political parties and corporate entities and it will lead to the highest level of corruption in the country."