Govt clears 24th tranche of electoral bonds; sale from Mon

The government on Saturday approved the issuance of the 24th tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale on December 5. The sale of bonds coincides with the second phase of the Gujarat assembly elections scheduled on December 5.

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding. State Bank of India (SBI), in the 24th phase of sale, has been authorized to issue and encash electoral bonds through 29 authorized branches from December 5-12, the finance ministry said in a statement.

“State Bank of India (SBI), in the XXIV Phase of sale, has been authorized to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches (as per list enclosed) w.e.f. 05.12.2022 to 12.12.2022," the finance ministry said in a statement.

The last phase of electoral bonds (23rd tranche) was open for subscription between November 9-15, 2022. 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. The authorized SBI branches include those in Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur, and Mumbai. SBI is the only authorized bank to issue electoral bonds.

An electoral bond will be valid for 15 days from the date of issuance. No payment would be made to any political party if the bond is deposited after the expiry of the validity period, the statement said.

Electoral bonds can be purchased by Indian citizens or entities incorporated or established in the country. Registered political parties that have secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha or legislative assembly election are eligible to receive funding through electoral bonds.

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