Analysis of Donations to National Political Parties — FY 2024-25
Known donations above ₹20,000 only · Published March 26, 2026
This report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) examines donations above ₹20,000 received by India's national political parties during FY 2024-25, as submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The six national parties covered are BJP INC AAP CPI(M) NPEP BSP.
The headline figure is striking: total declared donations surged by ₹4,104 crore — a 161% jump over the previous year, with electoral trusts and corporate houses powering the vast majority of that funding.
01 Submission Status — Who Filed on Time?
The due date for all parties to file their contribution reports with the ECI was 30 September 2025. Only three of the six national parties met the deadline. BJP — the largest recipient of donations — was the last to file, submitting its report 68 days late on 8 December 2025.
| # | Party | Date Filed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BSP | 5 Aug 2025 | On Time |
| 2 | NPEP | 23 Sep 2025 | On Time |
| 3 | AAP | 29 Sep 2025 | On Time |
| 4 | INC | 24 Oct 2025 | 23 Days Late |
| 5 | CPI(M) | 6 Dec 2025 | 66 Days Late |
| 6 | BJP | 8 Dec 2025 | 68 Days Late |
02 Party-wise Donations — FY 2024-25
The total declared donations above ₹20,000 for FY 2024-25 amounted to ₹6,648.563 crore from 11,343 donations — averaging ₹58.61 lakhs per donation. The BJP collected ₹6,074.015 crore from 5,522 donations, dwarfing all other parties combined. The INC came second with ₹517.394 crore. BSP, for the 19th consecutive year, declared zero donations above ₹20,000.
03 Year-on-Year Comparison — FY 2023-24 vs FY 2024-25
The overall increase of ₹4,104.285 crore (161%) from the previous financial year reflects a significant expansion in declared political funding. This was a non-election year for Lok Sabha, suggesting structural changes in fundraising patterns, particularly through electoral trusts.
04 Corporate vs Individual Donors
💡 BJP corporate dominance: Corporate donations formed 94.13% of BJP's total receipts — ₹5,717.167 crore from 2,794 donations. This is more than 13 times the total corporate donations received by all other national parties combined (₹411.62 crore).
💡 INC contrast: INC received 74.19% of its donations from corporates (₹383.86 crore via 112 donations), with a notably higher individual donor share — 2,357 individual donors contributing ₹132.39 crore.
05 Top Contributing States
ADR segregated donation sources by the addresses provided in party reports. Contributions were traced to 33 States/UTs. Delhi and Maharashtra together account for over 76% of total donations — a reflection of where India's corporate headquarters are concentrated.
📌 Andhra Pradesh contributed ₹4.258 crore in total: BJP received ₹2.619 cr, INC ₹0.313 cr, AAP ₹0.111 cr, and CPI(M) ₹1.215 cr from the state — a small but notable amount from a key southern state.
📌 A total of ₹7.684 crore (0.115% of total) could not be attributed to any state due to incomplete or undeclared addresses in the filings.
06 Top Donors — The Electoral Trust Dominance
Electoral Trusts — intermediary vehicles through which companies can donate to political parties — contributed ₹4,024.43 crore (60.53%) of all declared donations. The Prudent Electoral Trust alone was responsible for ₹2,413.47 crore distributed across BJP, INC, and AAP.
| Rank | Donor | Total (₹ Cr) | Parties Benefited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prudent Electoral Trust | 2,413.47 | BJP INC AAP |
| 2 | Progressive Electoral Trust | 834.97 | BJP INC |
| 3 | AB General Electoral Trust | 621.00 | BJP INC |
| 4 | New Democratic Electoral Trust | 155.00 | BJP INC |
| 5 | Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd | 100.00 | BJP |
| 6 | Rungta Sons Private Limited | 95.00 | BJP |
| 7 | Vedanta Limited | 67.00 | BJP |
| 8 | Macrotech Developers Limited | 65.00 | BJP |
| 9 | Derive Investments | 57.50 | BJP INC |
| 10 | Modern Road Makers Pvt Ltd | 52.15 | BJP |
🔍 The top 2 donors for every party combined contributed ₹3,251.16 crore — nearly 48.90% of all declared donations — highlighting extreme concentration in the funding ecosystem.
07 Transparency Gaps — Missing & Incomplete Data
ADR noted that 3,040 donations worth ₹684.887 crore contained incomplete cheque/DD details, making it impossible to trace the money trail. Only CPI(M) showed consistent month-wise reporting across the year.
08 ADR Observations & Recommendations
- 1No part of Form 24A (the donation disclosure form) should be left blank. The Supreme Court's 2013 ruling on candidate affidavits should be extended to party funding disclosures.
- 2All donors contributing ₹20,000 or more — whether as a single donation or in aggregate — must mandatorily provide PAN details.
- 3A provision should prevent individuals or companies from splitting donations into multiple small amounts below the reporting threshold while the total exceeds ₹20,000.
- 4The ECI should publicize actions taken against parties that fail to provide mandatory donor details, including name, address, PAN, and payment mode.
- 5Incomplete contribution reports should be returned by the ECI to parties, compelling them to refile with complete information.
- 6National and Regional political parties should be brought under the Right to Information Act to facilitate complete financial transparency.
- 7CBDT should establish a dedicated department for annual scrutiny of donation reports across all registered parties — national, regional, and unrecognized — to deter shell company funding.
- 8Corporations should be required to publish their political contributions on their official websites or in annual reports, enabling public accountability.
- 9An online reporting and disclosure platform should be developed by the ECI to improve transparency, efficiency, and real-time public access to party finances.
- 10Financial reports must be independently audited and made publicly available within a stipulated timeframe. Status updates on submission compliance should be published by the Commission.
The data in this post is sourced from the audited accounts and donations reports submitted by National Political Parties to the Income Tax Department and the Election Commission of India, as compiled and published by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW).
ADR does not add or subtract any information unless the ECI changes the data. No unverified information from any other source is used. Data can be accessed at myneta.info/party and the ECI website.
In case of any discrepancy between information in this post and the statements submitted by political parties, the information reported by the parties should be treated as authoritative. ADR, NEW, and their volunteers are not responsible for any direct or indirect consequences arising from the use of this data.
This content is published for informational and transparency purposes only. Read the full official report at adrindia.org · Download Full PDF Report.
