On February 15, 2024, the Supreme Court of India passed a landmark judgment striking down the Electoral Bonds Scheme 2017. Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud while announcing the verdict of the unanimous decision of a five-judge constitutional bench said that the anonymous electoral bonds violated the Right to Information under Article 19(a) of the Constitution.
Since then, a lot of news has been coming out detailing out the various organisations, and their humongous contributions to the political parties.
Amongst the various sectors contributing to electoral bonds, the automotive sector saw a total of Rs 144.75 crore worth of electoral bonds being purchased since 2019. This translates to the automotive sector contributing just about 1.13 percent of the total electoral bonds purchased by companies and individuals.
Of this, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Co, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Hero MotoCorp and JNS Instruments were amongst the biggest purchasers of the electoral bonds.
On the other hand, Force Motors, JBM Industries, and MRF, were amongst the companies that contributed one of the lowest amounts in political donations.
Surprisingly, SME’s like Vihaan Auto Ventures, RSLH Auto Seat Trims, were amongst the lesser-known brands to have taken the electoral bond route too.
The year 2019, saw the highest number of (74) bonds being purchased by the automotive industry, followed by 2023 (61 bonds) and 2022 (51 bonds). In 2020, only three bonds were purchased.
In 2024, only 12 bonds were purchased by the automotive industry.
| Company | Donation (in Rs) |
| Apollo Tyres | 30,000,000 |
| Bajaj Auto | 180,000,000 |
| CEAT | 60,000,000 |
| EVEY Trans | 60,000,000 |
| Force Motors | 63,500,000 |
| Hero MotoCorp | 200,000,000 |
| JBM Industries | 12,500,000 |
| JNS Instruments | 10,000,000 |
| Lumax Industries | 20,000,000 |
| MRF | 1,500,000 |
| Mahindra & Mahindra | 250,000,000 |
| Maruti Suzuki India | 200,000,000 |
| Minda Kyoraku | 5,000,000 |
| RSLH Auto Seat Trims | 30,000,000 |
| SMR Automotive Systems India | 30,000,000 |
| Sundaram Fasteners | 15,000,000 |
| TVS Mobility | 160,000,000 |
| TVS Motor Co | 100,000,000 |
| Vihaan Auto Ventures | 20,000,000 |
| Total | 1,447,500,000 |
