In FY22, the Anil Agrawal-led Vedanta had donated a cumulative amount of Rs 123 crore to political outfits.

Vedanta has reportedly donated Rs 457 crore to political parties in the last 5 years

Mining major Vedanta Ltd donated a total of Rs 155 crore to political parties during the financial year 2022-23, according to a regulatory filing. The amount was donated through the subscription of "electoral bonds", an exchange filing on June 19 stated, adding that it was higher compared to Rs 123 crore donated in FY22.

The electoral bond scheme, introduced by the government in 2018, provides an alternative to the cash donations made to registered political parties. The State Bank of India (SBI) is the sole lender authorised in the country for the issuance and encashment of these bonds.

The Anil Agrawal-led Vedanta has donated a cumulative amount of Rs 457 crore via the subscription of electoral bonds in the last five years, The Economic Times reported.

Notably, more than half of the income of four national political parties in 2021-22 was from donations through electoral bonds, an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) revealed in March.

BJP topped the list as it received a total donation of Rs 1,033.70 crore in the form of electoral bonds during the financial year, followed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which received Rs 528.143 crore, ADR stated in its report, adding that the Indian National Congress received Rs 236.09 crore and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) received Rs 14 crore.

Together, the four national parties collected Rs 1,811.9425 crore through electoral bonds, the election watchdog said.

"Four national parties, including BJP, AITC, INC and NCP, collected 55.09 percent of their total income from donations through electoral bonds for the financial year 2021-22,” it further added.