At least 4 Kolkata firms in list of top 10 bond donors

At least four companies headquartered in Kolkata Haldia Energy Limited, Essel Mining and Industry Limited, Keventer Foodpark Infra Limited, and Madanlal Limited feature in the list of top 10 electoral bond donors.

- SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY & SHREYA JAI

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal ruling Trinamool Congress is the second highest recipient of political donations through electoral bonds, according to the data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday.

It is also not just headliner businesses, but plenty of smaller, relatively lesser known entities in the city are the major buyers of corporate bonds, data shows. Company information accessed through the Registrar of Companies and private corporate information portals, such as Zaubacorp, show many don't even have a clear listing of businesses.

Industry majors lead the chart With receipts worth 377 core, Haldia Energy Limited is the fourthlargest buyer of corporate bonds in India. Part of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, the power company operates two 300 megawatt (Mw) coal-based thermal power plants at Haldia and supplies its power to CESC Limited, the distribution licensee for the city of Kolkata.

The company consistently bought bonds since May 2019, on at least 15 different occasions, data shows.