NEW DELHI: Political parties have realised Rs 1,045.53 crore so far by encashing electoral bonds, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
Electoral bonds of the aggregated amount of Rs 1,056.73 crore were purchased by citizens or entities till the completion of the 6th phase of issuance of electoral bonds in November 2018, Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
"So far six tranches of electoral bonds have been released by the Government as per the terms & conditions of the Notification dated 2.1. 2018. An aggregated amount of Rs 1,056.73 crore was mobilised through the sale of electoral bonds in six tranches. Out of the collected amount, a sum of Rs 1,045.53 crore was encashed by political parties," he said.
The government had notified on January 2, 2018, the Electoral Bond Scheme to cleanse the system of political funding in the country.
As per provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India.
Registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or legislative assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds.
Electoral bonds, which is issued for certain value denominations from the specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI), has a tenure of 15 days.
It does not carry the name of payee or the donor. The bonds under the scheme will be available for purchase for a period of 10 days, each in the months of January, April, July and October, as may be specified by the central government, Radhakrishnan said.
An additional period of 30 days will be specified by the central government in the year of the General election, he added.
Electoral Bond (EB) is a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest-free banking instrument.