Kolkata-based Dairy Keventer, which bought electoral bonds worth Rs 617 cr

By DairyNews7x7•Published on March 17, 2024

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.