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Qwik, a top purchaser of Indian electoral bonds, is affiliated to Ambani's Dependence, filings reveal

A littleknown Indian company, Qwik Supply Chain, which bought $50 million worth of bonds for political donations through a nontransparent scheme is associated to billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Dependence group, regulative filings reveal.

India's Election Commission on Thursday made public information of people and business who purchased electoral bonds, which allowed unlimited, anonymous political contributions given that 2018.

The Supreme Court of India prohibited these instruments on Feb. 15, calling them unconstitutional and stating contributions by. companies are purely service transactions made with the intent. of protecting advantages in return.

Qwik Supply Chain was the third largest donor using these. bonds, following Indian lotto firm Future Gaming, which paid. $ 165 million, and facilities company Megha Engineering which. bought bonds worth $117 million, the Election Commission information. showed.

While the information launched exposed donor identities, it does. not show which celebration they contributed to. Corporate financing is a. sensitive subject in India and Thursday's disclosure has actually ended up being. a hot subject as critics often say such bonds helped business. conceal their contributions to prevent any potential claims of. winning favours from a ruling party.

Qwik Supply Chain, headquartered near Mumbai, purchased bonds. worth 4.1 billion rupees ($ 50 million) in 2022 and 2023, the. data shows.

The business's latest monetary declaration for the year to. March 2023 filed with the Indian federal government reveals that at least. 3 companies - Dependence Group Support, Reliance Fire Brigade. and Reliance Health center Management - together own 50.04% of its. stake.

The three business have the exact same office addresses as other. Dependence businesses in Mumbai, corporate filings show.

Dependence stated late on Thursday that Qwik is not a. subsidiary of any Dependence entity, without elaborating. It did. not react after shared the regulative documents and. shareholding details linking it to Dependence.

Qwik's business secretary Anushree Bhargava, who has a. Dependence Industries Ltd business email address in Qwik's. regulative filings, likewise did not respond to an ask for. comment.

India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs, where regulative. filings are made, did not instantly react to queries.

LOGISTICS BUSINESS

A source with direct knowledge said Qwik is Dependence's. internal logistics and supply chain company which works closely. with Dependence's retail system.

Qwik generated income of 157 billion rupees ($ 1.9 billion). for the year to March 2023, according to its yearly monetary. declaration submitted to the Indian federal government.

North Eastern Bring Corporation, an Indian. logistics business, in 2022 told Indian stock exchanges in a. filing that it had actually won a work order from Qwik, which it. referred to as a subsidiary of Dependence Industries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Celebration was. the most significant recipient of the electoral bond plan, getting. 55% of the 120.1 billion rupees worth of bonds between January. 2018 and January 2024 from unnamed donors.

Other top business purchasers of the bonds include mining giant. Vedanta and Indian telecom group Bharti Airtel, data released on. Thursday showed.

(source: Reuters)