Kolkata: At least four firms, which purchased electoral bonds between 2019 and 2024, are part of the Keventer conglomerate and have their registered offices in Kolkata.
Keventer Foodpark Infra Pvt Ltd, Madanlal Ltd, MKJ Enterprises Ltd and Sasmal Infrastructure Pvt Ltd figure in the list of donors by contributing over Rs 600 crore in electoral bonds, according to the Election Commission (EC) list released Thursday.
Overall, the Keventer group has emerged as the third highest corporate to purchase electoral bonds in the country.
Industrialist Mahendra Kumar Jalan is the Chairman Emeritus of the Keventer Group. An alumni of Kolkata’s St Xavier’s Collegiate School and Harvard Business School, Jalan has presence in dairy, food processing, real estate, port, steel, and other industrial sectors.
Jalan has served as the French Honorary Consul General and is currently the Honorary Consul of Ireland in Kolkata, according to the group’s website. His son Mayank is the chairman and managing director of Keventer Agro.
Of the four firms, Keventer Foodpark Infra Pvt Ltd donated the highest amount of Rs 195 crore between 16 April 2019 and 8 May 2019.
The Kolkata-headquartered conglomerate was in the news after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) began its preliminary enquiry after Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury filed a PIL before the Calcutta High Court alleging the shares of Metro Dairy were sold at an undervalued price to Keventer Agro Pvt Ltd., leading to a loss of Rs 500 crore to the exchequer.
In 2017, the West Bengal government had sold its 47 percent stake in Metro Dairy, a public-private venture, to Keventer Agro Ltd — the sole bidder which already owned 43 percent stake — for Rs 85.5 crore. Subsequently, the firm sold nearly 15 percent of its shares to a Singapore-based equity firm at a higher price.
The ED raided the Keventer group in February 2021, and also issued summons to former West Bengal chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi who was the finance secretary when the disinvestment.
A few other senior bureaucrats and political leaders were also examined during the enquiry. But in September 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the West Bengal government’s disinvestment of Metro Dairy and dismissed Adhir’s plea.
Keventers Agro Ltd produces dairy products, fresh and packaged food, and beverages. It is the leader in private dairy in Eastern and North Eastern India, and owns the popular ice-cream brand Keventer Metro. Former India cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly is its brand ambassador.
“The company is responsible for sourcing, manufacturing, distribution and selling of Parle Agro’s products across West Bengal, Jharkhand, North-East, Bhutan and Sikkim,” says the official website of Keventer Agro Ltd.
Established in 1986, Keventer Agro Ltd acquired the operation rights of Edward Keventer who was recruited by the British in 1890 to modernise the dairy industry in India, reads the website.
Another subsidiary Sasmal Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, whose directors are Mahendra Kumar Jalan and Bablu Hazra, was the latest entity to purchase electoral bonds in November last year. The value of electoral bonds purchased until January were Rs 44 crore, according to the EC data.
While MKJ Enterprises Ltd bought electoral bonds worth Rs 192 crore between 4 October 2019 and 18 November 2023, Madanlal Ltd’s share stood at Rs 186 crore. The latter had purchased the bonds between 8 May 2019 and 10 May 2019.
All the four entities have their address in Kolkata’s Clive Ghat Street and have Radhe Shyam Khetan as one of its directors.
“The company has been incorporated on 22nd November, 1982 in the name of Madanlal Agencies Limited. The name of the Company was changed to MKJ Enterprises Limited on 4th January, 1990 and has been listed at the Calcutta Stock Exchange Limited and U.P. Stock Exchange Limited. The company is the pioneer in stainless steel business in India. The company has been trading in stainless steel for over a decade having handled substantial domestic business,” reads the MKJ Enterprises’ website.
As for Madanlal Ltd, it was previously known as Paramount Mercantiles Limited before it came to be known by its present name from 5 December, 1991. It was listed at the Calcutta Stock Exchange Limited since 11 March 1994.
“The Company is a part of MKJ Group & Keventer Group of companies. The Company is engaged in purchase and sale of securities and real estate sector,” according to its website.
According to reports, Keventer Agro had decided to go public and filed its papers for Initial Public Offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 8 August 2021. While the promoters had decided to sell about 10.7 million shares, the company had decided to raise Rs 350 crore through IPO to repay loans and for investing in capital expenditure.
But in December 2021, it decided to cancel its plan of launching the IPO due to “unfavourable market conditions” due to the pandemic despite the SEBI approving the draft papers.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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