BJD 5th Highest Beneficiary Of Electoral Bonds; 3 Companies From Odisha Contribute Over Rs 100 Cr Each

Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the ruling party of Odisha, encashed Rs 775.50 crore worth of electoral bonds between April 12, 2019 and January 24, 2024.

The BJD was fifth on the list of parties in term of enchashment. Its share in the total bonds encashed was 6.07%.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led the tally having encashed electoral bonds worth Rs 6060.5 crore (47.5%) in this period, followed by India Trinamool Congress (TMC) at Rs 1,609.50 crore (12.6%), Congress Rs 1,421.9 crore (11.1%) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi Rs 1,214.70 (9.51%).

The information was put up in public domain by Election Commission of India (ECI) after a disclosure of the data by the State Bank of India (SBI) on March 12. The bond data disclosed comprised two lists — one naming political parties that had encashed the electoral bonds, and the other of corporates and individuals who had purchased such bonds.

Three companies – Utkal Alumina International Limited, Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) and Rungta Sons Private Limited – are among major electoral bond donors from Odisha.

Utkal, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited, the metal unit of Aditya Birla Group, purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 145 crore while Naveen Jindal-led JSPL bought bonds worth Rs 123 crore and Rungta Sons Pvt Ltd, which operates several mines in Odisha, Rs 100 crore.

A leading alumina refinery, Utkal operates in the Rayagada district of Odisha. It comprises a 2.12MTPA alumina refinery, captive Baphlimali bauxite mines of 8MTPA with valid lease title up to February 2048, and a captive co-generation power plant of 90MW along with a 5MW solar power plant, according to the company website.

On December 22, 2023, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had presided over the ground-breaking ceremony of Aditya Alumina Refinery and an apparel unit to be set up by Utkal Alumina Social Welfare Foundation. While the Alumina Refinery is coming up at Kansariguda, the apparel complex with a capacity to manufacture 36 lakh shirts annually will be set at Phulujuba village, both in Rayagada district, at a total investment of Rs 8,114 crore.

Earlier on October 5, an MoU was formalised with Hindalco Industries Limited to establish a long-term linkage for raw materials for the HINDALCO Alumina Refinery at Kanshariguda, Rayagada.

The JSPL operates a 6 MTPA integrated steel plant in Odisha’s Angul district. It commissioned a 6 MTPA hot strip mill at its steel manufacturing facility in January last year. It is ramping up the capacity of the Odisha plant to 11.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from the existing 5.6 MTPA. The company also has a plan to further double it up to 24 MTPA, making it the world’s largest single-location steel plant.