The electoral bonds data made public by the Election Commission of India after the apex court's order has revealed two Indian airlines in total purchased bonds worth ₹56.65 crore. While bonds purchased by IndiGo and it's sister companies and allegedly it's promoter sums up to ₹56 crore, SpiceJet purchased bonds worth ₹65 lakh.
IndiGo was founded by Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal in 2006 and is currently India's largest airline in terms of market share and fleet size with over 300 aircraft.
Interglobe Enterprises as per the website is a 'conglomerate' with business in aviation, hospitality and logistics.
As per the data, InterGlobe Air Transport Ltd purchased 11 electoral bonds on May 10, 2019. The value of each bond was ₹1 crore each, taking the total to ₹11 crore. IndiGo airlines over the years has taken the full advantage of the vacuum in the market as many big airlines shut in India over the years.
Moreover IndiGo in December 2019 became the first Indian airline to operate 1,500 daily flights.
On December 31, 2019, it became India's first airline to have a fleet of more than 250 aircraft.
InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures which is part of the Interglobe 'conglomerate' purchased 20 electoral bonds on May 10, 2019.
Each bond value was ₹1 crore each, taking the total to ₹20 crore.
As per secondary research sources, directors of InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures Private Limited include Rohini Bhatia who is the wife of promoter Rahul Bhatia. Rohini Bhatia is the chairperson of the CSR committee of the company. She is also the chairperson of InterGlobe Foundation, the philanthropic arm of InterGlobe Group.
Interglobe Aviation under which the low cost carrier IndiGo operates, purchased 5 bonds worth ₹1 crore each on October 23, 2023. Total bonds worth ₹5 crore were purchased by the entity. IndiGo currently has a fleet size of 350 aircraft, and operates over 2000 daily flights and flies to 87 domestic and 33 international destinations.
The data also revealed that an individual named Rahul Bhatia purchased electoral bonds worth ₹20 crore. 29 electoral bonds were purchased on April 7, 2021, of which the value of 19 bonds was ₹1 crore each and value of 10 bonds was ₹10 lakh each, taking the total to ₹20 crore. If the said Rahul Bhatia is the promoter of IndiGo, then one can clearly see that, the total electoral bonds purchased by the promoter, IndiGo and it's sister companies sums up to ₹56 crore.
On the other hand, Ajay Singh led SpiceJet Airlines also purchased electoral bonds in three different tranches. Till a few years back the airline used to be the top 3 airlines in India and now has fallen to the 5th rank in terms of market share.
The ECI data revealed that SpiceJet in total purchased 20 bonds in 2021 worth ₹65 lakh.
In the first tranche, 7 bonds were purchased on January 8, 2021, 2 bonds were worth ₹10 lakh each and 5 bonds were worth ₹1 lakh each, taking the total to ₹25 lakh.
On April 9, 2021, 6 bonds were purchased by the budget carrier. Five bonds worth ₹1 lakh and one bond worth ₹10 lakh were purchased, taking the total to ₹25 lakh. The last set of bonds were bought on July 9, 2021, 2 bonds worth ₹10 lakh each and 5 bonds worth ₹1 lakh each. In total SpiceJet purchased bonds worth ₹65 lakh.
CNBC-TV18 has written to IndiGo and SpiceJet seeking comments. Comments are awaited.
First Published: Mar 16, 2024 11:22 AM IST
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