Government Approves 19th Tranche Of Electoral Bonds; Sale Opens On January 1
The first batch of electoral bonds were sold from March 1-10, 2018
New Delhi:
Ahead of assembly elections in five states, the government on Thursday approved the issuance of the 19th tranche of electoral bonds, which will be open for sale from January 1 to January 10.
In an effort to bring transparency in political donations, electoral bonds have been introduced as an alternative to cash donations to political parties. However, opposition parties have been raising concerns about alleged opacity in funding through such bonds.
“The State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorized to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 authorized branches in the 19th phase of sale from January 1 to January 10, 2022,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
There are 29 designated SBI branches in cities like Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur and Mumbai.
Assembly elections for 5 states- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Goa are expected to be announced next month.
The first batch of electoral bonds were sold between March 1-10, 2018. The 18th tranche of the bond sale took place from September 1 to September 10, 2021.
As per the provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds can be purchased by an individual who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India.
Registered political parties that have secured at least 1 percent of the vote in the previous election to the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly are eligible to receive electoral bonds.
SBI is the only authorized bank to issue such bonds. The electoral bond will be valid for 15 days from the date of issue. According to the statement, no payment will be made to any recipient political party on submission of the bond after the expiry of the validity period.
The bond deposited in its account by any eligible political party shall be credited on the same day.
