Electoral Bonds: Reliance-Linked Qwik Supply Funneled Rs 385 Crore to BJP, Rs 25 Crore to Shiv Sena

The Election Commission released fresh data about electoral bonds on Thursday. The information revealed that Qwik Supply Chain Private Ltd, a lesser- known company registered at Navi Mumbai's Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and reportedly affiliated with Reliance Industries, contributed Rs 395 crore to the BJP and Rs 25 crore to the Shiv Sena.

Between 2021 and 2023, Qwik Supply purchased bonds totaling Rs 410 crore. Almost the entirety of this amount, except for Rs 25 crore, was directed towards the BJP. In 2022, Qwik Supply allocated the remaining Rs 25 crore to the Shiv Sena, as per a report by PTI.

The company, which is described as a manufacturer of warehouses and storage units, gave no money any other political party, the data uploaded by the Election Commission showed.

Electoral bond purchases and donated by Qwik Supply were behind Rs 1,368 crore of Future Gaming and Hotel Services -- another little-known lottery company -- and Rs 966 crore of Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infra.

Honeywell Properties Private Ltd, another firm with a Reliance link, purchased bonds worth Rs 30 crore on April 8, 2021 and gave all of them to the BJP.

When the Reliance connection first came to light last week, a Reliance Industries spokesperson had in response to a detailed questionnaire, said, "Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity."

It, however, had not commented on its association with the firm.

Qwik Supply, an unlisted private company, was incorporated on November 9, 2000, with an authorised share capital of Rs 130.99 crore. Its paid-up capital is Rs 129.99 crore.

The firm had a revenue of over Rs 500 crore in 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023) but profit numbers were not known.

It bought electoral bonds worth Rs 360 crore in 2021-22 to give away to political parties. In the same year, its net profit was only Rs 21.72 crore. It bought another Rs 50 crore worth of bonds in 2023-24.

The company has three directors, and one reported key management personnel.

The longest-serving director currently on board is Tapas Mitra -- who incidentally also sits on the board of 25 other companies -- was appointed on November 17, 2014.

Mitra is a director of partnership firms such as Reliance Eros Productions LLP and companies such as Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline Company Pvt Ltd.

Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline is registered in Ahmedabad at an address shared by some other Reliance companies, such as Reliance Paging Pvt Ltd, Jamnagar Ratlam Pipeline Pvt Ltd, Reliance Tankages Pvt Ltd and Reliance Oil and Petroleum Pvt Ltd.

Vipul Pranlal Mehta has been a director on the board of Qwik since December 10, 2019. He is also a director of eight other companies, including one called Rel Icons and Traders Pvt Ltd.

Sridhar Titti is the most recently appointed director, joining the board on November 27, 2023.

One of two directors of Honewell Properties, Satyanarayanamurthy Veera Venkata Korlep, has been on the board of several Reliance group firms since 2005. The company also shares its registered address with several group firms.

Filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) showed Reliance Group Support, Reliance Fire Brigade and Reliance Hospital Management together owning 50.04 per cent of Qwik, which provides logistics and supply chain support to Reliance's retail unit.

Nexg Devices Pvt Ltd, a firm linked to Surender Lunia, purchased Rs 35 crore worth of electoral bonds in May 2019 and November 2022. Another firm linked to him, Infotel Business Solutions bought electoral bonds worth Rs 15 crore in May 2019.

He was the one who sold a 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV held by Reliance-linked firms to the Adani Group.

(With Inputs From PTI)