IT players like Infosys, Cyient, and Zensar are the latest companies under scrutiny for political donations through the electoral bonds scheme
The electoral bond case has brought IT and engineering services companies into focus recently. According to data from the State Bank of India (SBI) submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI), companies like Infosys Ltd., Cyient Ltd., and Zensar Technologies Ltd. have made political donations through the electoral bonds scheme.
Cyient was the top contributor among the three IT companies and had donated Rs 10 crore via, the now scrapped, electoral bonds. Following the suit was Zensar Technologies which made a contribution of Rs 3 crore during May 2019. The IT giant, Infosys donated Rs 1 crore to the Janata Dal (Secular) led by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda months before the Karnataka assembly elections in 2018.
Earlier this week, the Election Commission had released fresh information about electoral bonds. These details are reportedly from before April 12, 2019, whereas electoral bond information after this date was already made public by the Election Commission last week.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services was the top donor in electoral bonds, making a contribution of Rs 1,368 crore. The company is owned by Santiago Martin, who is also known as the 'Lottery King' of India.
P.P. Reddy owned, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures made a donation of Rs 966 crore.
Qwik Supply Chain was also among the top contributors, donating around Rs 410 crore. The company was earlier said to have links with Reliance, however, the Ambani-owned conglomerate denied any links with the firm.
"Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity," the company clarified in a statement.