Vedanta's donations to BJP jump nearly 4x to ₹97 crore in FY25
Vedanta Ltd
significantly ramped up its political contributions to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), donating ₹97 crore in FY25, which is nearly four times the ₹26 crore it gave the ruling party in the previous year, its latest annual report shows.
The company's total political donations rose to ₹157 crore in the financial year ending March 2025, up from ₹97 crore in FY24. While support to the BJP soared, Vedanta cut its donation to the Congress sharply, from ₹49 crore to just ₹10 crore.
The report, listed under 'Miscellaneous Expenses', breaks down Vedanta's
FY25 political donations
as follows:
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BJP: ₹97 crore (up from ₹26 crore in FY24)
Biju Janata Dal (BJD): ₹25 crore (up from ₹15 crore)
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM): ₹20 crore (up from ₹5 crore)
All India Congress Committee: ₹10 crore (down from ₹49 crore)
Vedanta, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, has long been one of India's biggest corporate political donors. In FY23, it donated ₹155 crore to various parties, and ₹123 crore the year before that. The company did not disclose the party-wise breakup for those years.
Between 2017 and 2022, Vedanta also contributed ₹457 crore to political parties through now-scrapped electoral bonds. These bonds had allowed anonymous, unlimited donations from individuals and companies. The Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional last year.
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Aside from direct donations, Vedanta channels political contributions through its Janhit Electoral Trust, one of several such trusts run by major corporates. Others include the Progressive Electoral Trust (Tata), People's Electoral Trust (Reliance), Satya Electoral Trust (Bharti), Paribartan Electoral Trust (MP Birla Group), and Samaj Electoral Trust (KK Birla Group). Bajaj and Mahindra also operate electoral trusts.
Fees to parent firm also rise
The annual report also showed a sharp increase in fees paid by Vedanta to its parent company for brand use and strategic services.
The group paid ₹2,397 crore in brand and other fees in FY25 to Vedanta Resources Ltd's wholly owned subsidiary VRIL, up from ₹2,326 crore in FY24.
This stems from a brand license and strategic service agreement with the London-listed parent, which entitles it to receive between 0.75% and 3% of the turnover of Vedanta and some of its subsidiaries. With effect from April 1, 2024, the agreement was assigned to VRIL.
As part of the arrangement:
Vedanta sublicensed the brand agreement to
Hindustan Zinc Ltd
(HZL) at 1.7% of its annual consolidated turnover
It also sublicensed to Ferro Alloy Corporation Ltd (FACOR) at 2.5%
These sublicensing deals led to an expense of ₹582 crore in FY25, up from ₹477 crore in the previous year.
Vedanta Resources Plc holds a 56.38% stake in Vedanta Ltd, which is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
With inputs from PTI
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