Government approves issuance of electoral bonds from April 1-10

New Delhi: Amidst assembly elections in four states and a Union territory, the government on Tuesday approved issuance of the 16th tranche of electoral bonds which will be open for sale from April 1 to 10.

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. However, Opposition parties have been raising concerns about alleged opaqueness in funding through such

bonds.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has accorded 'no objection' from the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) angle on March 17 with certain conditions, including that no political functionary would make any reference in this regard during any public speech or communication to the press or public in the constituencies going for polls, the finance ministry said in a statement.

"The State Bank of India (SBI), in the XVI Phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches w.e.f. 01.04.2021 to 10.04.2021," it said.

The 29 specified SBI branches are in cities such as Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Shimla, Srinagar, Dehradun, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur, Mumbai, and Lucknow.

The sale of the first batch of electoral bonds took place from March 1-10, 2018.