Electoral Bond: Bharti Group's $18M Donation to BJP Coincided with Telecom U-turn

In 2012, when the Indian Supreme Court (SC) canceled 122 telecom licenses allotted by the INC-led govt., ordering that telecom spectrum be auctioned, media reports hailed the verdict as ‘a decisive blow against corruption.’ The court order in what was popularly called the 2G spectrum scam contributed dramatically to the anti-corruption movement that propelled the BJP to power. More than a decade later, the Modi govt. announced the use of satellites to provide broadband services. Despite the SC’s order calling for compulsory auction of spectrum, the Modi govt. decided to adopt the INC route: discretionary allotment. In December 2023, the govt. hurried a new telecom law through Parliament that allowed satellite spectrum to be assigned through an administrative order, doing away with the need for competitive auctions. Only one company cleared the first two hurdles in getting the spectrum. OneWeb India received both the license and the space authorization required to apply for the spectrum. OneWeb India is the Indian subsidiary of international satellite company Eutelsat OneWeb, headquartered in London. The largest shareholder of Eutelsat OneWeb is Airtel owned by Bharti Enterprises whose owner Sunil Mittal hails from Ludhiana, Panjab. Bharti Enterprises is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Delhi, with interests in a diverse range of industries such as telecom, digital infrastructure, space communications, financial services and real estate. Recently released data on electoral bonds shows the Bharti group donated $18M to the BJP through two sets of bonds purchased before and after the govt. introduced the new law, and merely a month after the govt. granted OneWeb the space authorisation required to get the spectrum. This is a glaring example of how electoral bonds prompted the govt. to tweak rules and benefit donors.