RIL-linked Qwik Supply gave the BJP a donation of Rs 385 crore

Data provided by the Election Commission on Thursday revealed that the little-known Qwik Supply Chain Private Ltd., which has ties to Reliance Industries and a registered address in Navi Mumbai’s Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, donated Rs 25 crore to the Shiv Sena and Rs 395 crore to the BJP.

Between 2021 and 2024, Qwik Supply—the third-largest electoral bond contributor to political parties—purchased bonds worth Rs 410 crore, of which it provided all but Rs 25 crore to the BJP. The Shiv Sena received a payment of Rs 25 crore in 2022.

According to data submitted by the Election Commission, the firm, which is referred to as a maker of warehouses and storage facilities, did not donate any funds to any other political party.

Megha Engineering & Infra, situated in Hyderabad, and Future Gaming and Hotel Services, another obscure lottery firm, both received donations and electoral bonds for a combined Rs 1,368 crore and Rs 966 crore from Qwik Supply.

On April 8, 2021, Honeywell Properties Private Ltd, a different company with a Reliance connection, bought bonds totaling Rs 30 crore and delivered them all to the BJP.

“Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity,” a Reliance Industries representative said in answer to a thorough query when the Reliance link was first made public last week.

But it had remained silent about its affiliation with the company.

Founded on November 9, 2000, Qwik Supply is a privately held corporation without a stock exchange. Its authorized capital was Rs 130.99 crore. Its capital is fully paid up at Rs 129.99 crore.

The company’s sales year 2022–2023 (April 2022–March 2023) exceeded Rs 500 crore, although profit figures were not disclosed.

In 2021–2022, it purchased electoral bonds for political parties in the amount of Rs 360 crore. Its net profit for the same year was a mere Rs 21.72 crore. It invested an additional Rs 50 crore in bonds during 2023–2024.

There are three directors and one reported senior management employee in the firm.

Appointed on November 17, 2014, Tapas Mitra, who also serves on the boards of 25 other firms, is now the longest-serving director on the board.

Mitra is a director of corporations like Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline Company Pvt Ltd and partnership firms like Reliance Eros Productions LLP.

Reliance Paging Pvt Ltd, Jamnagar Ratlam Pipeline Pvt Ltd, Reliance Tankages Pvt Ltd, and Reliance Oil and Petroleum Pvt Ltd all have the same address as the Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline, which is registered in Ahmedabad.

Since December 10, 2019, Vipul Pranlal Mehta has served as a director on the Qwik board of directors. In addition, he is the director of eight additional businesses, one of which is named Rel Icons and Traders Pvt Ltd.

The most recent director to be selected, Sridhar Titti, will join the board on November 27, 2023.

Satyanarayanamurthy Veera Venkata Korlep, one of the two directors of Honewell Properties, has been on the boards of many Reliance Group companies since 2005. Additionally, the company’s registration location is shared by a number of group companies. Reliance Group Support, Reliance Fire Brigade, and Reliance Hospital Management together owned 50.04 percent of Qwik, which supports Reliance’s retail business with supply chain and logistics, according to filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

A company connected to Surender Lunia, Nexg Devices Pvt Ltd, bought Rs 35 crore worth of election bonds between May 2019 and November 2022. In May 2019, Infotel Business Solutions, a different company connected to him, purchased electoral bonds valued at Rs 15 crore.

It was he who sold the Adani Group a 29.18% share in NDTV that Reliance-affiliated companies owned.