Press Release: Corporate funding dominated political financing. Corporate/Business Houses contributed Rs 872.538 cr (62.36%) of the total donations received, while Individual donors contributed Rs 193.946 cr (13.86%), despite accounting for nearly 69% of the total number of donations.

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Aug 6, 2026, 2:40:26 AM (11 days ago) Aug 6

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Press Release

6th August, 2026

Analysis of Donations declared by Regional Political Parties – FY 2023-24 &
FY 2024-25

This report, prepared by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) focuses on donations declared by Regional Political Parties during the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25, as submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

This report analyses the donations above Rs 20,000 declared by Regional Political Parties to the Election Commission of India for the financial years 2023–24 and 2024–25. It presents a comparative assessment of the volume and value of contributions received across the two financial years, identifies the parties receiving the highest donations, examines the profile of major donors, and analyses donations by sector, mode of contribution, state-wise distribution, and availability of donor PAN details.

This report focuses on donations received by 40 Regional Political Parties. The contribution reports of 39 parties for FY 2023–24 and 34 parties for FY 2024–25 were available on the website of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and have been analysed in this report.

To access the detailed full reports in both English and Hindi on our website, please see: https://adrindia.org/content/Analysis-of-Donations-Received-by-Regional-Political-Parties-FY-2023-24-%26-2024-25

Executive Summary

The executive summary below lists the key observations drawn from the report:

Status of submission of contribution reports by Regional Parties to ECI for FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25

40 out of the 67 regional parties are analysed, only 12 regional parties submitted their contribution reports on time for FY 2024-25. Parties such as JJP, LJP (Ram Vilas), Kerala Congress (M), NPF, RLTP, MGP, BJD, AIUDF, AIADMK, DMK, YSR Congress and JMM filed their reports on time in FY 2024–25. 24 parties submitted these reports on time for FY 2023-24.
21 regional parties delayed the submission of their contribution reports ranging from 8 days to 160 days for FY 2024-25 while 14 regional parties delayed their submission of these reports for FY 2023-24 from 2 days to 109 days.
For FY 2024-25, a total of 33 regional parties’ contribution reports are not available on the website of the ECI. These include Bharat Adivasi Party, Goa Forward Party, Voice of the People Party, Citizen Action Party–Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Asom Gana Parishad, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura, Tipra Motha Party, All India Forward Bloc, All India N.R. Congress, Bodoland People's Front, Hill State People's Democratic Party, Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party, among others. 28 regional parties’ reports are not available for FY 2023-24.

Donations (above Rs 20,000) to Regional Parties as declared to the ECI, FY 2023-24 and 2024-25

The number of donations above Rs 20,000 declared by Regional Political Parties increased sharply by 85%, from 2,861 donations in FY 2023–24 to 5,297 donations in FY 2024–25.
The total value of declared donations also witnessed a three-fold increase, rising from Rs 347.693 crore in FY 2023–24 to Rs 1,051.556 crore in FY 2024–25, indicating a substantial increase in financial contributions received by Regional Parties.
DMK declared the highest donations (above Rs 20,000) worth Rs 365.784 cr from 467 donations in FY 2024-25. In FY 2023-24, TDP declared the highest amount of donations of Rs 100.1889 cr from 172 donations.
Several parties witnessed a significant increase in the amount of donations between the two financial years. These include DMK, AITC, JMM, AIADMK, LJP (Ram Vilas), JD(U), BJD, among others. Parties that witnessed a decline in the amount of donations between FY 2024-25 and 2023-24 include BRS, TDP, Janasena Party, CPI, Jannayak Party, JD(S), MNS etc.

Top 10 donors to Regional Political Parties for FY 2023-24 and 2024-25

The top 10 donors collectively contributed Rs 832.50 cr through 76 donations during FY 2023–24 and FY 2024–25.
Contributions from the top 10 donors increased significantly in FY 2024–25, amounting to Rs 594 cr through 43 donations, compared to Rs 238.50 cr through 31 donations in FY 2023–24. This represents an increase of 149% in the value of contributions and 45% in the number of donations.
Prudent Electoral Trust emerged as the largest donor across both financial years, contributing Rs 434 cr through 38 donations (Rs 253.50 cr in FY 2024–25 and Rs 180.50 cr in FY 2023–24), accounting for over 52% of the total contributions made by the top 10 donors.
M/S Tiger Associates was the second-largest donor, contributing Rs 160 cr through five donations, all made during FY 2024–25.
Progressive Electoral Trust (Rs 70 cr, Vedanta Limited (Rs 45 cr), and AB General Electoral Trust (Rs 32 cr) featured among the top five donors, with all their contributions made during FY 2024–25.

Comparison of donations (above Rs 20,000) received by Regional Parties between FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25

Out of the 40 parties, the contribution reports of only 33 parties for both financial years (FY 2023–24 and FY 2024–25) are available on the Election Commission of India’s website.
The total value of donations declared by Regional Political Parties increased from Rs 347.554 cr in FY 2023–24 to Rs 1,036.323 cr in FY 2024–25, an increase of Rs 688.769 cr (198.18%).
DMK recorded the highest increase in absolute terms, with donations rising by Rs 344.222 cr, from Rs 21.562 cr in FY 2023–24 to Rs 365.784 cr in FY 2024–25.
AITC witnessed the second-highest increase in absolute value, with donations increasing by Rs 178.536 cr, from Rs 6.424 cr to Rs 184.96 cr.
YSR Congress, AIADMK and BJD also registered substantial increases in donations. While YSR Congress reported an increase of Rs 77.539 cr, AIADMK reported an increase of Rs 62.6374 cr, and BJD, which reported no donations above Rs 20,000 in FY 2023–24, declared Rs 60 cr in FY 2024–25.

Sector-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) to Regional Parties in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25

Regional Political Parties declared a total of 8,158 donations above Rs 20,000 amounting to Rs 1,399.249 cr during FY 2023–24 and FY 2024–25 combined.
The total value of donations increased substantially by 202%, from Rs 347.693 cr in FY 2023–24 to Rs 1,051.556 cr in FY 2024–25, while the number of donations increased by 85%, from 2,861 to 5,297.
Corporate/Business Houses remained the largest source of political funding, contributing Rs 872.538 cr through 650 donations, accounting for 62.36% of the total value of donations received during the two financial years.
The value of donations from Corporate/Business Houses almost tripled, increasing from Rs 227.606 cr (65.46%) in FY 2023–24 to Rs 644.93 cr (61.33%) in FY 2024–25, although their share in the total value of donations declined marginally by about 4 percentage points.

In FY 2023–24, TDP received the highest amount of donations (Rs 100.188 cr), followed by YSR Congress (Rs 62.50 cr). In FY 2024–25, DMK emerged as the highest recipient of donations, receiving Rs 365.784 cr, followed by AITC (Rs 184.96 crore) and YSR Congress (Rs 140.039 cr).
DMK received the highest amount of donations from undeclared donors in FY 2024–25 (Rs 300.635 cr), which constituted about 82.2% of its total donations during the year.
AITC, YSR Congress, TDP, AIADMK and BJD relied almost entirely on Corporate/Business House donations, with negligible or no contributions from other donor categories.

Mode of payment wise donations (above Rs 20,000) to Regional Parties in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25

Bank transfers constituted the largest mode of payment, accounting for Rs 431.725 cr through 3,586 donations across the two financial years.
Donations received through cheques/DD with complete donor details amounted to Rs 329.269 cr through 1,122 donations, while cheques/DD with incomplete donor details accounted for Rs 316.883 cr through 966 donations.
Cash donations declined sharply in terms of the number of donations, from 432 donations in FY 2023–24 to 74 donations in FY 2024–25, although the total amount received through cash increased substantially from Rs 6.537 cr to Rs 301.444 cr.

DMK received the highest donations (Rs 365.784 cr) in FY 2024–25, with 82.2% (Rs 300.645 cr) received in cash, followed by bank transfers (Rs 50.16 cr). Since these cash contributions were disclosed as donations below the statutory reporting threshold of Rs 20,000, individual donor details are not available. Consequently, it is not possible to determine whether these amounts represent contributions from a large number of distinct small donors or whether, in some instances, the same donor made multiple donations below the disclosure threshold.
AITC received Rs 184.96 cr in FY 2024–25, of which 99.5% (Rs 184.081 cr) was received through cheques/DD with incomplete donor details.
YSR Congress received its entire Rs 140.039 cr through bank transfers, making it the only party among the top recipients to rely exclusively on this mode. TDP received Rs 83.036 cr in FY 2024–25, with 75.5% through cheque/DD (complete details) and the remaining through bank transfers.

Donations (above Rs 20,000) from India and Abroad to Regional Parties in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25

Regional Political Parties received the overwhelming majority of donations from within India, amounting to Rs 1,052.879 cr through 5,431 donations, constituting 75.2% of the total contributions received during FY 2023–24 and FY 2024–25.
89 donations amounting to Rs 0.776 cr, all reported in FY 2024–25, accounting for less than 0.1% of the total donations, were declared as donations from abroad.
Donations from donors with undeclared addresses increased sharply in FY 2024–25, both in terms of number (613 to 2,025 donations) and value (Rs 8.482 cr to Rs 337.11 crore).
Donations from donors with undeclared addresses totalled Rs 345.594 cr through 2,638 donations across the two financial years, accounting for 24.7% of the total value of donations received.

Delhi emerged as the largest contributor during FY 2023–24 and FY 2024–25 combined, with 574 donations amounting to Rs 433.776 cr, followed by West Bengal (Rs 172.935 cr) and Maharashtra (Rs 158.806 cr).
The United Arab Emirates accounted for the highest foreign contribution (Rs 38.60 lakhs), followed by Saudi Arabia (Rs 20.72 lakhs) and Qatar (Rs 10.98 lakhs).

PAN details of donations (above Rs 20,000) to Regional Parties in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25

PAN details were declared for 5,110 out of 8,158 donations (62.6%), accounting for Rs 1,058.866 cr, or 75.7% of the total value of donations received during FY 2023–24 and FY 2024–25.
The proportion of donations with declared PAN details declined in FY 2024–25, with 2,463 donations (46.5%) not disclosing PAN details, compared to 529 donations (18.5%) in FY 2023–24.
Donations without PAN details increased sharply in value, rising from Rs 7.685 cr in FY 2023–24 to Rs 329.582 cr in FY 2024–25, accounting for 31.3% of the total donations received in FY 2024–25.
56 donations worth Rs 3.116 cr were reported with incorrect or missing PAN details, representing 0.22% of the total value of donations across the two financial years.