Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited, a little-known company with a registered address at Navi Mumbai’s Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and having links to Reliance Industries, was the third-largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds.
It bought ₹ 410 crore of electoral bonds between financial years 2021-22 and 2023-24, but Reliance said the company is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity.
Electoral bond purchases and donations by Qwik Supply were behind ₹ 1,368 crore of Future Gaming and Hotel Services – another little-known lottery company – and ₹ 966 crore of Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infra, according to information uploaded by the Election Commission on its website.
Publicly available information describes Qwik Supply as a manufacturer of warehouses and storage units. The unlisted private company was incorporated on November 9, 2000, with an authorised share capital of ₹ 130.99 crore. Its paid-up capital is ₹ 129.99 crore.
The firm had a revenue of over ₹ 500 crore in 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023) but profit numbers were not known.
It bought electoral bonds worth ₹ 360 crore in 2021-22 to give away to political parties. In the same year, its net profit was only ₹ 21.72 crores. It bought another ₹ 50 crore worth of bonds in the financial year 2023-24.
The company has three directors, and one reported key management personnel. The longest-serving director currently on board is Tapas Mitra – who incidentally also sits on the board of 25 other companies – was appointed on November 17, 2014. Mr Mitra is a director of partnership firms such as Reliance Eros Productions LLP and companies like Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline Company Private Limited.
Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline is registered in Ahmedabad at an address shared by some other Reliance companies, such as Reliance Paging Private Limited, Jamnagar Ratlam Pipeline Private Limited, Reliance Tankages Private Limited and Reliance Oil and Petroleum Private Limited.
Vipul Pranlal Mehta has been a director on the board of Qwik since December 10, 2019. He is also a director of eight other companies, including one called Rel Icons and Traders Private Limited.
Sridhar Titti is the most recently appointed director, joining the board on November 27, 2023.
Honeywell Properties Private Limited, which purchased bonds worth ₹ 30 crore on April 8, 2021, is another firm with a Reliance link.
One of its two directors, Satyanarayanamurthy Veera Venkata Korlep, has been on the board of several Reliance group firms since 2005. The company also shares its registered address with several group firms.
Filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) showed Reliance Group Support, Reliance Fire Brigade and Reliance Hospital Management together owning 50.04 per cent of Qwik, which provides logistics and supply chain support to Reliance’s retail unit.
A Reliance Industries official responded to a thorough questioning by saying, “Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity.”
Nexg Devices Pvt Ltd, owned by Surender Lunia, acquired electoral bonds for ₹ 35 crore in May 2019 and November 2022. Infotel Business Solutions, a corporation associated with him, purchased electoral bonds worth ₹ 15 crore in May 2019.
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(Source: NDTV)
