SBI sells over ₹400 cr. electoral bonds

SBI sells over ₹400 cr. electoral bonds

News:

1. More than ₹400 crore worth of electoral bonds were sold by the State Bank of India (SBI) in the 10-day window of October, a sharp rise from the ₹32 crore worth of bonds sold in the July tranche, according to data the bank released under the Right to Information.

Important Facts:

2. The data also states that there is next-to-no demand for electoral bonds of smaller denominations and the majority of the bonds sold were in the highest denomination of ₹1 crore.
3. The data shows that ₹401.73 crore worth of bonds were sold by SBI in the the fifth tranche in October.

4. The first four tranches saw a huge variation in the value of electoral bonds sold by SBI.
5. In March, for example, SBI sold bonds worth ₹222 crore. In April, ₹114.9 crore worth of bonds were sold, which fell to ₹101 crore in May, and just ₹32 crore in July.
6. For example, in the March and April tranches, a total of just 17 bonds (2.2% of the total) were sold in the ₹1,000 denomination, and none was sold in the ₹10,000 denomination. In contrast, 450 bonds were sold in the ₹10 lakh denomination (58.6% of the total) and 291 in the ₹1 crore denomination (37.9% of the total).
7. Sold Denominations: The data from all five tranches shows that barely any electoral bonds were sold in the smaller denominations of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, and ₹1 lakh.

• For example, in the March and April tranches, a total of just 17 bonds (2.2% of the total) were sold in the ₹1,000 denomination, and none was sold in the ₹10,000 denomination.
• In contrast, 58.6% of the total bonds were sold in the ₹10 lakh denomination and 37.9% of the total bonds in the ₹1 crore denomination.

8. Significance: The electoral bond data assumes significance against the backdrop of the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.