NEW DELHI: Donations above Rs 20,000 received by regional political parties nearly tripled in 2024-25, rising to Rs 1,051.56 crore from Rs 347.69 crore in the previous financial year, while the number of declared donations jumped 85%, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).The report, which analysed 40 of the country’s 67 recognised regional parties, found that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) emerged as the highest recipient of donations in FY2024-25, receiving Rs 365.78 crore. It was followed by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) with Rs 184.96 crore and the YSR Congress with Rs 140.04 crore. In FY2023-24, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had topped the list with Rs 100.19 crore.AITC’s declared donations surged from Rs 6.42 crore in FY2023-24 to Rs 184.96 crore in FY2024-25, marking one of the sharpest increases among regional parties. Across the two financial years, the party received total donations worth Rs 191.38 crore, of which about Rs 170.85 crore came from corporate or business houses and Rs 20.53 crore from individual donors.The report noted that 99.5% of AITC’s donations in FY2024-25—Rs 184.08 crore out of Rs 184.96 crore—were received through cheques or demand drafts carrying incomplete donor details.ADR also pointed out that AITC declared the highest amount received through electoral bonds among the regional parties analysed, at Rs 612.42 crore, followed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) at Rs 495.52 crore. These figures relate to electoral bonds received before the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme on February 15, 2024.DMK recorded the largest jump in donations in absolute terms, with receipts rising by Rs 344.22 crore over the previous year. Of its Rs 365.78 crore in donations in FY2024-25, donor names were undeclared for Rs 300.64 crore, accounting for more than 82% of the party’s total donations.The ADR report highlighted an unusual trend in cash donations. While the number of cash donations declined sharply from 432 in FY2023-24 to 74 in FY2024-25, the total amount received through cash increased dramatically from Rs 6.54 crore to Rs 301.44 crore. DMK alone accounted for Rs 300.65 crore of these cash receipts.“Since these cash contributions were disclosed as donations below the statutory reporting threshold of Rs 20,000, individual donor details are not available. Consequently, it is not possible to determine whether these amounts represent contributions from a large number of distinct small donors or whether, in some instances, the same donor made multiple donations below the disclosure threshold,” the report said.Corporate and business houses remained the biggest source of political funding, contributing Rs 872.54 crore—62.36% of all donations declared during FY2023-24 and FY2024-25 combined. Individual donors accounted for the highest number of donations but contributed only Rs 193.95 crore, or 13.86% of the total value.Among the top donors, Prudent Electoral Trust contributed the highest amount—Rs 434 crore across both financial years—followed by M/s Tiger Associates with Rs 160 crore.The report also found that 89 foreign donations worth Rs 77.6 lakh were declared in FY2024-25. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) accounted for 83 donations worth Rs 68.42 lakh, the Communist Party of India (CPI) reported four donations worth Rs 7.29 lakh, while Janasena Party declared two foreign donations worth Rs 1.9 lakh.
