DMK Tops Regional Party Donations as Funding Crosses ₹1,000 Crore: ADR

Declared donations of more than ₹20,000 received by regional political parties more than tripled in FY2024-25, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) emerging as the biggest recipient, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Thursday.

The report said regional parties received ₹1,051.56 crore in declared donations during 2024-25, compared with ₹347.69 crore in the previous financial year. The number of donations also rose sharply from 2,861 to 5,297, marking an 85 per cent increase.

Corporate and business houses remained the largest source of political funding, contributing ₹644.93 crore in 2024-25, nearly three times the ₹227.61 crore donated a year earlier. Over the two financial years, corporate entities contributed ₹872.54 crore through 650 donations, accounting for more than 62 per cent of the total value of contributions.

While individual donors made the highest number of contributions, with 5,647 donations across the two years, they accounted for only ₹193.95 crore, or about 14 per cent of the total value. Their share declined despite an increase in the number of donations.

The ADR report also highlighted a steep rise in donations from undeclared donors, which surged from ₹6.62 crore in 2023-24 to ₹302.67 crore in 2024-25, representing nearly 29 per cent of total declared donations.

The DMK topped the list of recipients with ₹365.78 crore, including ₹300.64 crore from undeclared donors, which constituted more than 82 per cent of its total declared donations. It was followed by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) with ₹184.96 crore and the YSR Congress with ₹140.04 crore. In comparison, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had been the highest recipient in 2023-24.

The report further noted that AITC, YSR Congress, TDP, AIADMK and BJD relied almost entirely on corporate and business donations. Prudent Electoral Trust emerged as the largest donor over the two-year period, contributing ₹434 crore, while donations without PAN details and cash contributions also witnessed a sharp increase during 2024-25, raising concerns over transparency in political funding.