Donations to national parties surge 161% in FY25

Donations to national parties surged by 161 per cent in 2024-25 compared to the previous fiscal, with the ruling BJP accounting for the majority — more than ten times the combined total received by all other national parties, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report, released on Thursday, said total donations above Rs 20,000 declared by the national parties stood at Rs 6,648.563 crore from 11,343 contributions in FY25.

Of this, the BJP alone received Rs 6,074.015 crore from 5,522 donations, followed by the Congress with Rs 517.394 crore from 2,501 donations.

The BJP’s declared donations exceeded the combined total of the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the National People’s Party (NPEP) for the same period by more than tenfold, the report pointed out.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), meanwhile, declared that it did not receive any donations above Rs 20,000, as it has been doing so for the last 19 years.

Overall donations to national parties rose by Rs 4,104.285 crore in 2024-25 as compared to 2023-24. The BJP’s collections alone jumped 171 per cent from Rs 2,243.947 crore in the previous fiscal.

Donations to the Congress increased by 84 per cent, from Rs 281.48 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 517.394 crore in 2024-25.

Among other parties, the AAP received Rs 27.044 crore -- a 244 per cent increase -- the NPEP got Rs 1.943 crore, an increase of 1,313 per cent, the report said.

Corporate donations dominated political funding, accounting for Rs 6128.787 crore, or 92.18 per cent of the total contributions, across 3,244 donations. Individual donors contributed Rs 505.66 crore through 7,900 donations, making up 7.61 per cent of the total.

The BJP received Rs 5,717.167 crore from 2,794 corporate donations, more than 13 times the combined contributions received by all other national parties, which stood at Rs 411.62 crore. It also received Rs 345.94 crore from 2,627 individual donors.

The Congress received Rs 383.86 crore through 112 corporate donations and Rs 132.39 crore from 2,357 individual contributors during the fiscal year.

Among the top donors, Prudent Electoral Trust donated a total of Rs 2413.465 crore to the BJP, the Congress and the AAP combined. Of this, Rs 2180.7119 crore went to the BJP (35.90 per cent of total funds received by party), Rs 216.335 crore to the Congress (41.81 per cent of total funds received by party) and Rs 16.4178 crore to the AAP (43.08 per cent of total funds received by party).

Progressive Electoral Trust donated Rs 834.97 crore through two donations, AB General Electoral Trust donated Rs 621 crore through 16 donations, and New Democratic Electoral Trust donated Rs 155 crore through seven donations to the BJP and the Congress.

Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd donated Rs 100 crore through three donations, and Rungta Sons Private Limited donated Rs 95 crore through four donations to the BJP in 2024-25.