Grasim Industries: As per a report from The Reporters Collective, The Aditya Birla group has made a total donation of Rs534 crore, distributed as follows:

• Rs224 crore from Essel Mining and Industries Ltd
• Rs135 crore by Utkal Alumina International Ltd
• Rs35 crore through Ultratech Cement
• Rs105 crore by Birla Carbon
• Rs33 crore through Grasim Industries
• Rs2 crore through Birla Estate Pvt Ltd

In August 2021, the Union government lifted the anti-dumping duty on viscose staple fibre (VSF), a man-made, biodegradable fibre used in textiles manufacturing which had been Grasim's speciality for decades.

The decision to remove the anti-dumping duty on VSF followed an order by the competition commission of India (CCI), which found that Grasim had abused its dominant position in the VSF market "by charging discriminatory prices to its customers, denying market access and imposing supplementary obligations upon its customers." This decision opened the door for foreign manufacturers to enter the market with cheaper products, adversely impacting Grasim.

However, as per an investigative report from The Indian Express,  Grasim officials reportedly lobbied successfully with Piyush Goyal, the Union minister for textiles, to implement stringent quality control measures in the sector. The order outlining stricter quality control measures was issued in December 2022, effectively restricting imports from China and Indonesia. These imports had previously sustained the operations of small- and medium-sized companies.

In less than a year since India implemented a stringent quality control order for VSF, a crucial raw material in the textiles supply chain, imports of VSF plummeted by 65%. This development enabled Aditya Birla group-owned Grasim Industries to strengthen its market share to 95%, up from 90%.

Rithwik Projects: Rithwik Projects is a mining and infrastructure company founded by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Rajya Sabha member CM Ramesh. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) but resigned in 2019 after the I-T raids in October 2018 and immediately after TDP lost power in 2019.

In October 2018, during his tenure with the TDP, the I-T department conducted searches at his residence and locations. Mr Rajesh, his brother and executive director at Rithwik Projects, was also reportedly subjected to these searches. The MP characterised the raids as 'a clear instance of political vendetta', alleging that the Union government had been targeting TDP leaders for the past 15 days. In June 2019, Mr Ramesh, along with four other MPs from TDP, resigned to join the BJP. This decision followed the TDP's loss of power in Andhra Pradesh.

A report by The Reporters Collective says Rithwik Projects donated Rs5 crore through electoral bonds in January 2023, ahead of the February 2023 elections in Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland. Additionally, it purchased bonds worth Rs40 crore in April 2023, prior to the Karnataka elections.

Ramky Group: In July 2021, I-T investigators conducted raids on 15 properties belonging to the Ramky group, including its headquarters in Hyderabad. The investigation focused on suspected tax evasion involving the group's fabrication of losses amounting to Rs1,200 crore. Additionally, the Ramky group, which owns the construction company, has been subjected to raids by the ED, CBI, and I-T authorities on multiple occasions.

After the raids, in January 2022, the group donated Rs40 crore, followed by another donation of Rs50 crore in April 2022 and a further Rs15 crore in October 2023.

These donations were made before the state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Manipur.

The group was established by Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, a Guntur businessman-politician member of Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSR Congress Party. He was appointed to the Rajya Sabha in 2020 by the YSR Congress Party.