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Lakshmi Mittal bought Rs 35 crore in electoral bonds, equal to 9.2%—rounded to 10% in the headline—of the Rs 378 crore attributed to individual buyers in Project Electoral Bond’s analysis of Election Commission-released data. The report identified 368 individual buyers and found that the ten biggest buyers accounted for Rs 172 crore, or 45% of the individual total.
What the “10%” headline means
The figure is a rounded share, not an exact 10%. Project Electoral Bond reported that Mittal bought 35 bonds worth Rs 1 crore each on April 8, 2019. Compared with Rs 378 crore in reported purchases by 368 individuals, his Rs 35 crore total represents 9.2%. The article’s figures are based on its analysis of Election Commission-released data; the totals have not been independently recomputed here. Scroll / Project Electoral Bond, March 17, 2024.
The report said the ten highest individual buyers together purchased Rs 172 crore—45% of the Rs 378 crore individual-buyer total. The ranked list below reflects the amounts and identifying details reported there; it is not a complete account of every bond purchaser.
The 10 biggest individual buyers reported
| Buyer as reported | Reported amount and timing | Identity or reporting qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Lakshmi Mittal | Rs 35 crore: 35 bonds of Rs 1 crore each, purchased April 8, 2019 | Reported as 9.2% of individual purchases. |
| Laxmidas Vallabh Asmita Mercha | Rs 25 crore in November 2023 | The report attributes identification of “Mercha” as Laxmidas Vallabhdas Merchant and Asmita Merchant to The Reporters Collective. The combined label should not be treated as a settled single-person identity. |
| KR Raja JT | Rs 25 crore on November 17, 2023 | The report said the person’s identity was unknown. |
| Rahul Bhatia | Rs 20 crore on April 7, 2021 | The report described a connection to InterGlobe Aviation as speculation, not a verified identification. |
| Inder Thakurdas Jaisinghani | Rs 14 crore across April and October 2023 | Timing is reported across those purchase periods. |
| Rajesh Mannalal Aggarwal | Rs 13 crore across several purchase windows in 2022 and 2023 | The article does not specify individual dates for each purchase here. |
| Rahul Jagannath Joshi | Rs 10 crore in January 2022 and Rs 10 crore in November 2023 | The report lists the purchases under this name. |
| Harmesh Rahul Joshi | Rs 10 crore in January 2022 and Rs 10 crore in November 2023 | The report lists the purchases under this name. |
| Raju Kumar Sharma | Rs 10 crore | The report said it could not establish his antecedents. |
| Saurabh Gupta | Rs 10 crore | The report said it could not establish his antecedents. |
The table preserves the report’s names and qualifications rather than treating uncertain or ambiguous identifications as settled fact. Scroll / Project Electoral Bond, March 17, 2024.
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Who eventually encashed the top buyers’ bonds?
Buying a bond and a political party encashing it are separate events. In a March 22, 2024 update, Newslaundry’s Project Electoral Bond report said bonds bought by eight of the ten largest individual buyers were encashed only by the BJP. That amounted to Rs 144 crore, or 83% of the top ten’s Rs 172 crore total. The report said the remaining Rs 28 crore was encashed by the Trinamool Congress (Rs 16.2 crore), BRS (Rs 5 crore), NCP (Rs 3.8 crore), and Congress (Rs 3 crore). These are the report’s attributions from the disclosed data; the recipient breakdown by itself does not establish an improper arrangement. Newslaundry / Project Electoral Bond, updated March 22, 2024.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the release can—and cannot—show
Electoral bonds were monetary instruments purchased from the State Bank of India and given to political parties for redemption. The Supreme Court struck down the scheme on February 15, 2024. The Election Commission’s March 2024 publication followed court directions and included information received from political parties as well as data furnished by SBI. Scroll Staff, March 17, 2024.
Disclosure occurred in stages. Scroll reported on March 17 that unique codes linking purchasers to recipients were absent from the data then published. Newslaundry’s March 22 update subsequently reported the top-ten recipient breakdown. Those dates matter when describing what was public at each point.
Mittal’s reported purchase was on April 8, 2019, shortly before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The chronology does not establish why he bought the bonds, whether the timing affected a political decision, or whether the purchase secured any government action. The released purchase and redemption information, as analysed in the cited reports, supports the reported amounts and recipient breakdown—not a conclusion about motive or a quid pro quo.
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