17th tranche of electoral bonds approved by the government, on sale from July 1

In the run up to five state Assembly elections, the Indian government has approved the 17th tranche of electoral bonds for issuance on Tuesday. The sale of the bonds will be open between July 1 and July 10.

As per a statement from the Ministry of Finance, “State Bank of India (SBI), in the XVII phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches with effect from July 1 to July 10, 2021.”

The 29 branches authorized include branches in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur, Shimla, Srinagar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Patna, Dehradun, Lucknow and Raipur.

An alternative to cash donations to political parties, electoral bonds are an effort to increase the transparency in political funding. The sale of the first tranche took place between March 1 to March 10 in 2018. The last tranche went on sale between April 1 and April 10 this year.

Any person who is an Indian citizen or any entity incorporated or established in India can purchase electoral bonds. Electoral bonds can be received by registered political parties, provided they don’t secure more less than one per cent of the total votes cast in the last Lok Sabha or a state legislative Assembly election.

The validity of an electoral bond is 15 days from the date of issuance. If a bond’s date of deposit is after the expiry of this validity period, payee political party will not receive any payment.

Payment would be credited on the same day on which eligible political parties deposit a bond in their account.

The State Bank of India is the only bank authorized to issue electoral bonds.