Top buyers of electoral bonds include lottery king, infrastructure giant, mining group Vedanta

India’s leading lottery company headed by a controversial businessman is the top purchaser of electoral bonds, an initial analysis of the data released by the Election Commission of India shows.

Other large buyers include Hyderabad-based infrastructure giant Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited, a Reliance-linked company Qwik Supply Chain, mining conglomerate Vedanta and a subsidiary of the Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka group.

Lottery giant Future Gaming and Hotel Services has bought worth Rs 1,368 crore. The Coimbatore-based company with a turnover of Rs 7,000 crore is headed by Martin Santiago, also known as “Lottery King” Martin. The company has been under investigation for money laundering.

The second-largest buyer is the Megha group of companies, which bought bonds worth Rs 1,186 crore. This includes Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited, which bought 966 bonds worth Rs 1 crore each, and Western UP Power Transmission Company Ltd, which bought bonds worth Rs 220 crore.

The Megha group is headquartered in Hyderabad and has won several government projects, including the Kaleeswaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana, being built at a cost of Rs 1.15 lakh crore.

Maharashtra-based Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited bought bonds worth Rs 410 crore. One of the company’s three directors, Tapas Mitra, is also the director of Reliance Oil and Petroleum, Reliance Eros Productions, Reliance Photo Films, Reliance...

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