Electoral bond disclosures: Jalan group bonds well with political parties

Financial records of two group companies show that the donations gave are disproportionately high compared to the of the firms, at least in the years they purchased the bonds

A bulk of the political donations made by West Bengal’s top contributor, the Mahendra Kumar Jalan group, went to the BJP, according to data published by the Election Commission (EC).

The EC on Thursday evening put up on its website a fresh data set which includes alpha-numeric numbers matching the purchase of electoral bonds with the political parties that received the funds.

Four Jalan group companies contributed Rs 351.92 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party: Keventer Foodpark Infra (Rs 144.5 crore), Madanlal Ltd (Rs 175.5 crore), MKJ Enterprises (Rs 26.92 crore) and Sasmal Infrastructure (Rs 5 crore). The Congress got Rs 160.6 crore, and the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which governs Bengal, got Rs 65.9 crore from the group. Other beneficiaries include the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the Samajwadi Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal.

The group purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 616.92 crore between April 2019 and January 2024, making it one of the top donors through electoral bonds in the country.

Keventer was the biggest purchaser of the electoral bonds in the Jalan Group, paying Rs 195 crore. MKJ Enterprises purchased bonds worth Rs 192.42 crore, Madanlal Limited Rs 185.5 crore and Sasmal Infrastructure Rs 44 crore. The donations Madanlal Limited and Keventer made were disproportionately high compared to the size of the two companies, at least in the years they purchased the bonds.

Madanlal (formerly Paramount Mercantiles Limited), is engaged in the purchase and sale of securities and real estate, according to the company’s annual report for 2019-20. It purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 185.5 crore between May 8 and 10, 2019. Its gross income in 2019-20 was Rs 297.84 crore and net profit at Rs 5.18 crore.

The donation was reported in the annual report as “other expenses” of Rs 280 crore. Madanlal’s total revenues fell sharply to Rs 8.09 crore for the year ended March 31, 2021 while net profit was at Rs 4.69 crore.

Keventer (now Magnificent Foodpark Projects) purchased bonds worth Rs 195 crore on April 16, May 7, May 8 in 2019. Standalone financial statements from Tofler, a business research platform, show Keventer’s gross income for the year ended March 31, 2020 was at Rs 203.9 crore and net profit at Rs 12.4 lakh.

Who are the Jalans

Kolkata-based Jalans are known to share good equations across the political spectrum. Mahendra Kumar Jalan, 76, has varied business interests, from steel trading to fast-moving consumer goods and real estate. Keventer Agro, the flagship and separate company of the group, was set up in 1986 as a franchisee for beverage company Parle Agro. It also does business in packaged foods, beverages, and dairy. In FY23, it had revenues of Rs 1,231.3 crore.

In 2019, Mahendra Jalan stepped down from the Keventer Agro’s board and became the chairman emeritus. Mayank Jalan, his son and a graduate of the London School of Economics, has steered the company’s expansion plans since 2004.

The Jalan group has invested in some marquee real estate projects in Kolkata. Keventer Realty, according to the company's website, has a land bank of 200 acres and its total investment in residential, commercial and retail projects is in excess of Rs 3,000 crore. A river port project of the group, Kulpi, however, is stuck after being conceived decades ago.

Years ago, Mahendra Jalan set his eyes on lubricant maker Tide Water Oil, but later pulled out of the race.

Brush with ED

In February 2021, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at Keventer Agro’s registered office in Kolkata in connection with the Metro Dairy disinvestment.

Metro Dairy was a milk and ice cream company promoted by the West Bengal Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation and Keventer Agro.

In 2017, Bengal floated an e-auction open tender to divest its 47 per cent stake. Subsequently, Keventer Agro submitted a bid and became 100 per cent owner of Metro Dairy.

The ED probed the transfer of shares after a public interest litigation by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that the offer price was inadequate and the disinvestment process not transparent.

In 2022, the Calcutta High Court said that the state’s decision to sell its stake was neither illegal nor arbitrary. It said the state had not adopted an opaque procedure for the share sale. Chowdhury’s plea in the Supreme Court was dismissed.