On February 29, 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved three semiconductor units as part of the government’s push to build a domestic semiconductor industry. Two units were led by the Tata Group.

As part of a scheme to incentivise semiconductor production, the Centre agreed to underwrite half the cost of building the units. For the two units of the Tata Group, this subsidy comes to Rs 44,203 crore.

Four weeks after the Cabinet approval, the Tata Group donated Rs 758 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party. This makes it the party’s biggest donor in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, surpassing any political donation made in 2023-’24, based on the disclosures made to the Election Commission so far.

In all, 15 firms of the Tata Group gave away nearly Rs 915 crore in political donations in 2024-’25. The donations were transferred to political parties via the group’s Progressive electoral trust. The highest amount came from the holding firm, Tata Sons Private Limited, which gave Rs 308 crore.

After the BJP, the second-highest recipient of the donations was the Congress party, which received Rs 77.3 crore – about one-tenth of the amount the BJP got. Eight other political parties received Rs 10 crore each from the group.

The Tata Group’s donation fits a larger pattern of corporations that bagged government incentives for semiconductor projects funding the BJP.

The third semiconductor unit approved by the government in February is being set up by the Tamil Nadu-based Murugappa group, with 50% of the cost – Rs 3,501 crore – being underwritten by the government.

As Scroll had reported earlier this year, days after the approval, the Murugappa group had donated Rs 125 crore to the BJP.

Ramesh Kunhikannan, the managing director of Kaynes Technology, also donated Rs 12 crore to the BJP in 2023-’24, according to the party’s contribution report. In September 2024, his firm, Kaynes Semicon Private Limited, received an approval to set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat.

The Tata Group’s Progressive electoral trust did not make any donations to political parties between 2021 and 2024 – until the Rs 758 crore-transfer in April 2024, days ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Scroll sent questions to a spokesperson of Tata Sons about the timing of the donations to the BJP but had not received a response at the time of publication. Questions sent to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which oversees India’s semiconductor industry, also went unanswered. This report will be updated if there is a reply.

Modi government’s semiconductor push

In 2021, the Modi government announced a host of schemes under the India Semiconductor Mission to encourage companies to set up semiconductor units. It was a push to create a local semiconductor industry, especially after the Covid pandemic disrupted India’s automobile sector – including firms such as Tata Motors. The sector relies heavily on semiconductor imports from China and Taiwan.

The mission offered thousands of crores of rupees in government subsidies to corporations that would enter this key sector. This included 50% central subsidy on capital expenditure to build semiconductors units, with additional financial support from state governments.

The 157-year-old Tata Group’s semiconductor ambitions are at least as old as the government mission. In 2021, Tata Sons acquired a telecom firm that months later bought a majority stake in an Indian semiconductor design firm.

In 2022 and 2023, it announced strategic partnerships with Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corporation and US-based Micron Technology – both significant global players in the semiconductor industry.

When the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi approved state support for three semiconductor units (two in Gujarat and one in Assam, both governed by the BJP), the Tata Group bagged two of these units.

The first was a facility to turn raw silicon wafers into finished integrated circuits in Dholera, Gujarat, in partnership with Taiwan-based Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. The second was a unit to assemble, test and package chips in Morigaon, Assam.

According to the government, the Tata Group will invest Rs 1.18 lakh crore in the two units and create up to 46,000 direct and indirect jobs. A part of its investment is covered by the 50% central government subsidy, which according to an Indian Express report comes to Rs 44,203 crore.

Earlier, the Economic Times had reported that the Assam government would also be giving additional incentives to the Tata Group for the facility it was setting up in the state.

“This marks the beginning of a new era for India,” said Randhir Thakur, CEO and MD of Tata Electronics, on the day of the cabinet decision. “Tata Electronics is proud to play a prominent role in strengthening the global semiconductor ecosystem.”

BJP rakes in crores

Just a month after the Union Cabinet’s approval of its semiconductor units, the Tata Group donated Rs 757.6 crore to the BJP.

These transactions were made through the Progressive electoral trust. One of the directors of the trust, Jehangir Nariman Mistry, also sits on the boards of several Tata trusts, the organisations that hold a majority stake in Tata Sons.

The trust’s latest disclosure to the Election Commission shows that 15 firms of the Tata Group – including Tata Sons, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Steel – contributed Rs 915 crore to Progressive on April 2, 2024.

The same day, the trust donated Rs 914.9 crore to 10 political parties. The largest cheque of Rs 757.6 crore, that is 82% of total donations, was cut for the BJP.

The Congress party received Rs 77.3 crore. Eight other political parties – All India Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Shiv Sena, Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress, Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi – received Rs 10 crore each.

The date for contributions and donations in the trust’s disclosure statement is recorded as October 24, 2025. But the trust clarified that the date had been incorrectly recorded because of a glitch in the Election Commission’s system.

An unprecedented donation

The BJP has been the largest beneficiary of political finance in the last decade. The Tata Group’s donation to the party on April 2, 2024, is larger than any other donation made to a political party in 2023-’24, based on the information available so far.

The 2024-’25 donations of the Prudent electoral trust, which has a history of making large donations to the BJP, are yet to be made public.

The Tata Group had last made political donations through the Progressive trust in 2018-’19. That year’s disclosure is not available with the Election Commission, but contribution reports of the Trinamool Congress, the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the BJP show that the group donated at least Rs 478 crore that year. Of this, Rs 356 crore went to the BJP.

Between 2014-’15 and 2017-’18, disclosures made to the Election Commission do not record any donations by the trust. The trust’s disclosure for 2019-’20 is not available in the public domain. Contribution reports of political parties do not reveal any donations by the trust during that year either. Between 2021-’22 and 2023-’24, the trust did not make any donations.