Note that unlike Western businesses that tend to make doantions to one of the main parites, Indian businesses hedge theor bets and donate to both the main parties.
“Which Indian businessman has previously claimed not to be a big fan of Indian politics? Answer: Ratan Tata, the former chairman of one of the world’s best-known Indian companies.
Still, his firm is among dozens of Indian conglomerates pumping millions of dollars into political campaigns across India each year. And unlike billion-dollar American companies who either lean left or right, big firms here extend support – at least monetarily – to both the secular Congress and the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, the two largest parties in India.
That was one of the several findings by Association for Democratic Reforms, a New Delhi-based think-tank, which recently analyzed documents detailing donations in the run-up to federal polls this year.
ADR, through analysis of documents submitted to the Election Commission of India, estimated that the two parties had collectively raised about 4.13 billion rupees ($66 million) from the start of 2004 through 2012, the vast majority of which, 3.64 billion rupees ($58 million) or about 87%, came from Indian corporations.
India is expected to go to polls in May and parties likely to rely heavily on donations for funding. Although much is widely known to be off the books, according to ADR, a breakdown of public donations shows that business is one of the largest funding sources for both parties.
The country’s bureaucracy has often been dubbed a nightmare for businesses, with “widespread corruption and fickle regulations” making business a “frustrating and expensive” affair, as this Hong Kong-based consultancy notes. But that hasn’t deterred corporate houses from donating to political parties who, when in office, implement and introduce legislative red tape.
“Companies obviously want to be in the good books of both parties,” Anurag Mittal, who headed research for the ADR report, said about the corporates’ decision to fund parties with opposing ideologies. “They’re playing it safe; they want their businesses to remain intact irrespective of whoever comes to power,” he added.
The Congress, which swept national polls in 2004 and 2009, received 1.87 billion rupees ($30 million) in donations between 2004 to 2012. About 1.72 billion rupees ($27 million), or 92% of these funds, came from business houses.
Meanwhile, the BJP generated marginally more, raising 2.26 billion rupees ($36 million) in the same period. But the conservative Hindu party, which boycotted recent proposals to attract foreign investors, wasn’t quite as popular in the business world. Around 85% or 1.92 billion ($31 million) of donations to the party came from corporations.
via Firms Give Big Backing to Indian Politics – India Real Time – WSJ.
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