Following searches, the producer of Remdesivir had to pay Rs 60 Cr for bonds

According to information released by the Election Commission on its website, Hetero Pharma, a pharmaceutical company that was searched by the Income Tax Department for suspected unreported income of Rs 550 crore—of which Rs 142 crore was confiscated in cash—bought electoral bonds worth Rs 60 crore.

Hetero bought the bonds in April 2022, July 2023, and October 2023. The raids were place on October 9, 2021. Hetero, a Hyderabad-based company with production facilities in China, Russia, and other nations, gained notoriety during COVID-19 when it began producing Remdesivir, a medication that was in high demand at the time.

Biological E and Bharat Biotech, vaccine producers situated in Hyderabad, are also included among the companies that purchased bonds valued at Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore, respectively. The government had given both businesses permission to produce the Covid vaccination.

37 pharmaceutical and healthcare firms purchased bonds totaling around Rs 903 crore. Yashodha Super-Speciality Hospital is the largest buyer of bonds valued at Rs 162 crore among healthcare companies. In 2021, 17 bonds were purchased; in 2022, 89; and in 2023, 56.

Bond purchases of Rs 80 crore were made by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Rs 77.5 crore by Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Rs 69.25 crore by Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma, and Rs 39.2 crore by Cipla. The founder of Biocon Ltd., Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, invested Rs. 10 crore. Torrent Pharmaceuticals, based in Ahmedabad, purchased 91 bonds for a total of Rs 77.5 crore.

In the meanwhile, almost four years starting on April 12, 2019, saw the purchase of 11,671 bonds of the largest denomination, worth Rs 1 crore. These bonds made up a staggering 96% of the total value of all bonds of this kind that were acquired in order to make contributions to different political parties. Corporates tended to choose the highest-denomination bonds.