613 percent, that is the growth of corporate donations to political parties from the UPA-1 government under Manmohan Singh to the current NDA government led by Narendra Modi. A CNBC-TV18 analysis of the data on corporate money in politics has thrown up some startling numbers.

Sample this -- in the five year period under UPA-1 total donations from corporates stood at Rs 170 crore. It rose over Rs 500 crore under UPA-2 and in just the first 3 years of the current Modi government, total donations have crossed Rs 1,200 crore.

So who is getting how much? During the first UPA government, the Congress and BJP were almost neck-to-neck with both parties getting around Rs 80 crore or so. During UPA-2, there was a shift towards the BJP with the party getting over Rs 300 crore. However, in the first 3 years of the Modi government, BJP has raced ahead netting over Rs 990 crore from corporate donations. Congress is way behind at just over Rs 170 crore.

This surge in political funding over the last few years is at odds with growth in profits of corporate India. While corporate donations have risen 84 percent, Profit after Tax (PAT) of the top 50 companies on the Nifty rose just 9 percent.

First Published:Aug 1, 2018 10:34 PM IST