AAP donations triple in 2024-25, individuals dominate funding
More than 43 per cent of the party’s total funds came from the Prudent Electoral Trust, which alone reportedly donated Rs 16.4 crore to AAP during the year
Donations to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rose more than threefold, increasing from Rs 11.06 crore in the financial year 2023-24 to Rs 38.1 crore in 2024-25, according to details submitted by the party to the Election Commission (EC), according to a report on Monday (December 22).
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The data reportedly relates to donors who contributed amounts exceeding Rs 20,000.
AAP’s biggest donor
More than 43 per cent of the party’s total funds came from the Prudent Electoral Trust, which alone donated Rs 16.4 crore to AAP during the year, according to a report in Indian Express.
The Trust, which receives funding from corporates such as Jindal Steel and Power, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Aurobindo Pharma and Torrent Pharmaceuticals, donated Rs 2,180.07 crore to the BJP in the same period.
Apart from Prudent, the bulk of AAP’s donations came from individuals rather than corporate entities. Of the top 100 donors, only four were organisations, including one NGO.
Just eight companies featured among the top 300 donors, highlighting the limited role of corporate funding in the party’s overall donation profile.
Funding from various organisations
In total, 17 companies reportedly contributed Rs 90.3 lakh to the party, which faced a setback earlier this year after losing power in Delhi.
The largest organisational donor was Bharatha Swamukti Samsthe, a Karnataka-based not-for-profit charitable trust, which donated Rs 30 lakh.
Other contributors included Delhi-based Kuber Polyplast, which donated Rs 25 lakh, and Advance Chemicals, which contributed Rs 11 lakh.
Also Read: BJP received Rs 2,600 Cr in donations in 2023-24, Congress Rs 281 Cr: EC
Smaller donations, reportedly ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 6 lakh, came from a variety of businesses, including a pharmaceutical firm, an automobile dealership, a chartered accountant, a diagnostic laboratory, a design firm, a security agency and a tour company.
Top individual contributors
Among individual donors, Mumbai-based Talapady Umashanker Shen, who reportedly contributed Rs 37.74 lakh online, was the second-highest donor, after the Prudent Electoral Trust.
Mangalore-based Michael D’ Souza ranked fourth among the top ten donors, contributing Rs 30 lakh.
AAP’s submission to the EC in September 2024 showed that the party had collected Rs 11 crore during 2023-24.
That year marked a sharp decline compared to earlier periods, particularly after the party came to power in Punjab in 2022, when it raised Rs 52.4 crore through electoral bonds from its top ten donors, as per the report.
Party leaders among donors
The donor list also included several party leaders. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal donated Rs 10,000 on 12 occasions, the report said, with the same amount appearing repeatedly in contributions by senior leaders.
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Punjab AAP president and minister Aman Arora also donated Rs 10,000 twelve times, while former Delhi chief minister Atishi Marlena contributed Rs 3,500 on 12 occasions.
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh and Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan donated Rs 10,000 twelve times each. Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains contributed a total of Rs 62,000, split into two instalments of Rs 51,000 and Rs 11,000.