The Association for Democratic Reforms on Thursday reported a sharp rise in political funding in 2024–25, with the Bharatiya Janata Party receiving over Rs 6,074 crore—more than ten times the combined donations of all other national parties.
The ADR report showed that total donations above Rs 20,000 declared by national parties stood at Rs 6,648.563 crore from 11,343 contributions in FY25, marking a 161 per cent increase over the previous fiscal.
The BJP accounted for the overwhelming share with Rs 6,074.015 crore from 5,522 donations. The Indian National Congress followed with Rs 517.394 crore from 2,501 contributions.
The report noted that the BJP’s declared donations exceeded the combined total of the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the National People's Party by more than tenfold.
The Bahujan Samaj Party reported no donations above Rs 20,000 for the 19th consecutive year.
Overall contributions rose by Rs 4,104.285 crore compared to 2023–24. The BJP’s collections jumped 171 per cent from Rs 2,243.947 crore in the previous year, while the Congress recorded an 84 per cent rise from Rs 281.48 crore.
Among other parties, AAP received Rs 27.044 crore, marking a 244 per cent increase, while the National People’s Party reported Rs 1.943 crore, a rise of 1,313 per cent.
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Corporate donations continued to dominate political funding, accounting for Rs 6,128.787 crore, or 92.18 per cent of total contributions across 3,244 donations. Individual donors contributed Rs 505.66 crore through 7,900 donations, making up 7.61 per cent.
The BJP received Rs 5,717.167 crore through 2,794 corporate donations, over 13 times the combined corporate contributions received by all other national parties, which stood at Rs 411.62 crore. It also received Rs 345.94 crore from individual donors.
The Congress reported Rs 383.86 crore in corporate donations and Rs 132.39 crore from individual contributors.
Among major donors, electoral trusts played a key role. Prudent Electoral Trust contributed Rs 2,413.465 crore to the BJP, Congress and AAP combined, with the BJP receiving the largest share.
Other significant contributors included Progressive Electoral Trust, AB General Electoral Trust and New Democratic Electoral Trust, alongside corporate donors such as Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd and Rungta Sons Private Limited.
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