Tata Group donated Rs 758 cr to BJP weeks after approval for semiconductor units: Report

New Delhi: The Tata Group contributed Rs 758 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just weeks after the Union government approved over Rs 44,000 crore in subsidies for two of its semiconductor units, according to an investigation by Scroll.in. The donations, made in April 2024, came just days before the general elections.

The two Tata semiconductor units, located in Assam and Gujarat, both states governed by the BJP, received Union Cabinet approval in February 2024. The total government subsidies for these projects reportedly amount to around Rs 44,023 crore.

Following the approval, the Tata Group channelled the substantial donation to the BJP. Scroll.in’s report details the process through which these funds were routed. The Congress party also received donations, though significantly less than the BJP.

In recent years, the BJP has emerged as the largest recipient of political funding via electoral trusts and the now-suspended electoral bonds system. The Tata Group made these contributions through a political trust. Introduced by the UPA government in 2013, electoral trusts are designed to enable companies and individuals to donate to political parties.

While electoral trusts are required to disclose their sources and the parties receiving funds, it remains challenging to directly trace which company’s donations go to which party.