Most of the major recognized national & state parties have submitted their ‘Annual Audit Reports’ for the year 2020-21. Data from 2017-18 indicates that the number of EBs purchased & redeemed was the lowest in 2020-21. While the three regional parties of YSRCP, DMK & BJD accounted for 75% of the EBs redeemed in 2020-21, BJP retains its position as the largest beneficiary with 65% EBs redeemed till 2020-21. The 20 Phase of ‘Electoral Bond Scheme 2018’ was announced by Government of India on 30March 2022. The sale of Electoral Bonds (EBs) was carried out by the State Bank of India (SBI) during 01 April 2022 and 10 April 2022. This was the first sale of Electoral Bonds in the current financial year, with the earlier phase of sale between 01 January 2022 and 10 January 2022. Unlike the earlier phase which was prior to the Assembly elections in five states, there aren’t any immediate elections barring certain bye-elections to Lok Sabha & State Assemblies. In this story, we look at the trends in purchase & redemption of electoral bonds during 20 phase. Further, with most of the major political parties submitting their Annual Audit Reports for 2020-21, we also look at the trends in Electoral Bonds purchased & redeemed by the respective political parties in 2020-21. Factly’s comprehensive Dashboard, ‘Electoral Bonds- The Numbers’, has details of the Electoral Bonds across the various phases since the launch of the scheme and can be accessed here. Electoral Bonds worth Rs. 648 Crores Purchased & Redeemed in 20th Phase As per the information received from SBI in response to a RTI application, a total of 811 EBs worth Rs. 648.49 crores were sold during the 20 Phase i.e., between 01 April and 10April, 2022. All the EBs purchased were redeemed. This is about 53% of the EBs sold in the immediately preceding phase in January 2022 when EBs worth Rs. 1.21 thousand crores were sold by SBI during the 19 Phase. The lower sale of EBs compared to earlier phase is understandable. The 19 phase of sale was prior to the Assembly elections of 5 states during February-March’2022, especially in the key States of Uttar Pradesh & Punjab. There aren’t any major elections currently or scheduled in the next few months except for certain bye-elections Lok Sabha & respective state assemblies. Out of the 811 Bonds purchased in the latest phase, 640 EBs i.e., 79% of the total bonds were of Rs. 1 Crore denomination. Comparatively, the share of EBs of one crore denomination bonds in the 19th Phase were 56%. In line with the earlier trends, the bonds of lower value have a lower share. During the 20 phase, 79 EBs of Rs. 10 Lakh, 55 of Rs. 1 lakh and 37 EBs of Rs.10 thousand denomination were purchased. During 20th Phase, most EBs purchased & redeemed in Hyderabad Out of the 811 Electoral Bonds that were purchased in the 20 Phase, 530 were purchased in Hyderabad. The value of these Electoral Bonds is Rs. 425.99 crores which is around 66% of the total value of EBs purchased in the latest phase. The next highest purchase was made in Chennai. A total of 100 EBs worth Rs.100 crores were purchased. While 93 bonds were purchased in Kolkata, the value is lower with Rs. 39 crores compared to Mumbai & New Delhi with 43 & 40 EBs of Rs. 43 crores and Rs.40 crores respectively. Hyderabad also tops in terms of the EBs redeemed. As highlighted earlier, all the EBs purchased in 20 Phase were redeemed, and of these, 525 EBs were redeemed in Hyderabad. The next highest number of EBs were redeemed in New Delhi, with 165 bonds worth Rs.165 crores. A further 100 EBs were redeemed in Chennai. With no elections in the immediate future in either of the Telugu-speaking states of Telangana & Andhra Pradesh, the reason for the major portion of EBs being purchased and redeemed in Hyderabad is uncertain. Least number of Electoral Bonds purchased in 2020-21 The first phase of EBs sale was during March’2018. This was the only phase for the year 2017-18. A total of 520 EBs worth Rs. 222 crores were sold in the first phase. In the ensuing fiscal year of 2018-19, there were seven phases of sale of EBs, through which 5,293 EBs worth Rs. 2.55 thousand crores were sold. This year included general elections in few key states as well as the initial phase of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A higher number of bonds were sold during 2019-20. During the five phases in this fiscal year i.e., IX to XIII, a total of 6,639 EBs worth Rs. 3.43 thousand crores were sold. Phase IX & X coincided with general elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in few of the larger states. However, in 2020-21, there was a huge fall with only 472 EBs worth Rs. 324.39 crores sold across two phases.