According to the non-governmental organisation Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), electoral bonds worth Rs 277 crore have been sold since last year

According to the non-governmental organisation Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), electoral bonds worth Rs 277 crore have been sold since the last year. The ADR report states that State Bank of India (SBI) has sold 12,313 electoral bonds worth Rs 6,128 crore from March 2018 to October 2019.

12,313 electoral bonds worth Rs. 6128 crore sold from March 2018 to Oct 2019#electoralbond pic.twitter.com/sY692HLrdO — ADR India (@adrspeaks) November 1, 2019

The report also shows that most electoral bonds were sold in Mumbai at Rs 1,880 crore, followed by Rs 1,440 crore in Kolkata, Rs 919 crore in New Delhi and Rs 838 crore in Hyderabad among other cities.

Earlier this year, in April, almost 99 percent of donations received by political parties between March 2018 and 24 January 2019 were as electoral bonds of Rs 10 lakh and one crore, a social worker has reportedly found through a right to information (RTI) application. Donors purchased bonds worth Rs 1,407.09 crore of which Rs 1,403.90 crore were in the highest denominations of Rs 10 lakh and Rs one crore during the period, said Chandrashekhar Goud, who got the data from the State Bank of India (SBI) through an RTI query.

The donors bought 1,459 electoral bonds of denomination of Rs 10 lakh and 1,258 bonds of Rs one crore denomination. They purchased 318 bonds of Rs one lakh, 12 bonds of Rs 10,000 and 24 bonds of Rs 1000 denomination. Parties redeemed electoral bonds worth Rs 1,395.89 crore.

Electoral bonds are a monetary instrument that citizens or corporations can buy from the State Bank of India to give donations to a political party. These bonds keep the donor's identity secret.

There are 29 specified SBI branches in various cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Ranchi, and Bengaluru from which citizen can buy these bonds. As per 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 one percent of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or legislative assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds. The SBI is the only authorised bank to issue such bonds. A person can buy electoral bonds, either single or jointly, with other individuals.

With inputs from agencies