NEW DELHI: The 24th tranche of electoral bonds will open for sale from December 5 as the government on Saturday approved the issuance of these bonds. State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through 29 authorised branches from December 5-12, the finance ministry said in a statement.
The last phase of electoral bonds (23rd tranche) was open for subscription between November 9-15, 2022.
Electoral bonds are an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. The issuance date of bonds coincides with the second phase of the Gujarat assembly election, which is scheduled on December 5.
Usually, electoral bond tranches are open for sale between 1-10 of a designated month. For instance, the 22nd tranche of bond sales took place from October 1-10, 2022 while the 21st tranche was from July 1-10, 2022. The sale of the first batch of electoral bonds happened from March 1-10, 2018.