According to data provided to the Election Commission (EC), donations to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) increased by more than three times, reported The Indian Express. The rise has been from Rs 11.06 crore in the fiscal year 2023-24 to Rs 38.1 crore in 2024-25. The information related to donors who made contributions reaching more than Rs 20,000.
The Prudent Electoral Trust alone contributed Rs 16.4 crore to the AAP throughout the year, accounting for over 43% of the party’s total revenue. Corporate entities including Jindal Steel and Power, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited, Bharti Airtel, Aurobindo Pharma and Torrent Pharmaceuticals provide funding for the trust.
The majority of AAP’s donations, with the exception of Prudent, came from private citizens. Only four entities, including an NGO, were among the top 100 donors and eight businesses were included among the top 300 contributors. The party received contributions totalling Rs 90.3 lakh from 17 businesses. Bharatha Swamukti Samsth, a Karnataka-based non-profit charity trust, submitted the largest organisational donation of Rs 30 lakh.
Moreover, Advance Chemicals provided Rs 11 lakh while Delhi-based Kuber Polyplast contributed Rs 25 lakh. A variety of companies, including a pharmaceutical company, a car dealership, a chartered accountant, a diagnostic laboratory, a design firm, a security agency and a tour company offered amounts between Rs 25,000 and Rs 6 lakh.
The Prudent Electoral Trust was the largest individual donor, followed by Talapady Umashanker Shen of Mumbai, who made an online payment of Rs 37.74 lakh. Likewise, Rs 30 lakh were presented by Michael D’ Souza of Mangalore and ranked fourth out of the top 10 donors.
The AAP obtained Rs 11 crore in 2023-2024, as per their September 2024 report to the EC. Compared to previous performance, that year experienced a substantial drop, especially after the party seized control of Punjab in 2022 and received Rs 52.4 crore from its top ten donors through electoral bonds.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who made twelve donations of Rs 10,000, was among the party leaders on the list. Senior leaders frequently contributed the same amount. Aman Arora, party’s Punjab president and minister also gave Rs 10,000 twelve times. Atishi Marlena, the former chief minister of Delhi, supplied Rs 3,500 on twelve occasions.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Health Minister Balbir Singh each made twelve offerings of Rs 10,000. A total of Rs 62,000, divided into two installments of Rs 51,000 and Rs 11,000, was provided by Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains.
