New Delhi: Donations received by India’s regional political parties recorded an unprecedented increase during the financial year 2024–25. The total value of contributions above ₹20,000 declared before the Election Commission of India nearly tripled compared with the previous financial year, according to the latest report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report, prepared on the basis of contribution statements submitted by regional political parties to the Election Commission of India (ECI), provides a detailed analysis of donations received by 40 regional parties during the financial years 2023–24 and 2024–25.

According to the report, the total value of donations above ₹20,000 declared by regional political parties increased from ₹347.69 crore in FY 2023–24 to ₹1,051.56 crore in FY 2024–25. This represents an increase of more than 202 per cent in a single year. During the same period, the number of such donations rose from 2,861 to 5,297, marking an increase of 85 per cent.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) emerged as the regional party receiving the highest amount of donations in FY 2024–25. The party declared that it had received ₹365.78 crore through 467 donations. It was followed by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) with ₹184.96 crore, the YSR Congress Party with ₹140.04 crore, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with ₹83.04 crore, and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

According to ADR, the rise in political funding was largely concentrated among a small group of regional political parties. The five highest recipient parties in 2024–25—DMK, AITC, YSR Congress, TDP and AIADMK—together received ₹840.13 crore, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the total donations declared during the financial year.

The report also revealed that the corporate sector continued to dominate the financing of regional political parties. Corporate and business houses contributed ₹872.54 crore during the two financial years, accounting for 62.36 per cent of the total value of donations received. In comparison, individual donors contributed ₹193.95 crore, representing 13.86 per cent of the total amount. However, individual donors accounted for nearly 69 per cent of the total number of donations.

Among the largest donors, Prudent Electoral Trust occupied the top position, contributing a total of ₹434 crore over the two financial years. It was followed by Tiger Associates, which donated ₹160 crore. Progressive Electoral Trust, Vedanta Limited and AB General Electoral Trust were also among the five largest donors to regional political parties.

The report, however, raised serious concerns regarding transparency in political funding. According to ADR, nearly 82 per cent of the total donations received by the DMK in FY 2024–25—amounting to ₹300.65 crore—was received in cash. The party disclosed these amounts as individual donations below ₹20,000, for which the law does not require the identities and other details of donors to be made public.

As a result, it is not possible to determine whether the money was genuinely collected from thousands of different small donors or whether one or a few donors made several contributions below ₹20,000 in order to remain below the statutory disclosure threshold.

Similarly, 99.5 per cent of the total donations received by the AITC came through cheques or demand drafts, but complete information about the donors was not provided. On the other hand, the YSR Congress Party received its entire ₹140.04 crore through bank transfers, while most of the donations received by the Telugu Desam Party came through cheques and bank transfers.

According to the report, there was also a significant deterioration in the disclosure of information relating to the identities of donors during FY 2024–25. Donations from donors whose names were not disclosed amounted to ₹302.67 crore. Contributions from donors whose addresses were not disclosed totalled ₹337.11 crore, while donations received without PAN details amounted to ₹329.58 crore.

Together, these three categories constituted a substantial proportion of the total donations declared during the financial year and raised serious questions about transparency in political funding.

In the state-wise analysis, Delhi emerged as the largest source of donations to regional political parties. A total contribution of ₹433.78 crore was reported from Delhi during the two financial years. It was followed by West Bengal and Maharashtra.

The share of foreign donations remained extremely limited. During FY 2024–25, regional political parties declared 89 foreign donations amounting to a total of ₹77.6 lakh. This represented less than 0.1 per cent of the total donations received. Among the foreign sources, the United Arab Emirates emerged as the largest contributor, followed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The report also highlighted negligence on the part of regional political parties in submitting their contribution reports to the Election Commission. Of the country’s 67 recognised regional political parties, only 40 parties could be included in the analysis, as several parties either failed to submit their contribution reports or their reports were not available on the Election Commission’s website.

Only 12 regional political parties submitted their reports within the prescribed deadline for FY 2024–25, compared with 24 parties in FY 2023–24. Several parties submitted their reports after delays extending up to 160 days.

In its conclusion, ADR observed that political donations to regional parties are becoming increasingly concentrated among a few selected political parties and a small number of major donors. At the same time, the growing failure to disclose essential information such as the names, addresses and PAN details of donors is weakening transparency and public accountability in political financing.

The organisation emphasised the need to make disclosure requirements more stringent in order to ensure that the political funding system becomes more transparent, accountable and open to public scrutiny.