Panaji: The
Timblos
, a major player in the mining sector, have emerged as the highest contributor from Goa towards the electoral bonds, paying Rs 13 crore in different tranches from April 2021 to Jan 2022.
The Timblos, who run the Fomento group, used a maze of subsidiaries and sister concerns to purchase the electoral bonds. The Timblos along with business families of Goa — Salgaocars, Dempos and Chowgules — and other companies operating from the state, together contributed over Rs 27 crore to electoral bonds.
As reported by TOI on Tuesday, most of these donations occurred in Jan 2022, just a month before the assembly elections. Goa went to polls on Feb 14, 2022.
The exception was
Jai Ganesh Ispat
and
Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd
, the authorised distributor of
JSW
Steel, which purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 4 crore in Nov 2023. The company has its registered office at
Caranzalem
and an industrial unit at
Corlim
.
Fomento Resources, which is headed by Ambar Timblo, purchased the electoral bonds through subsidiaries such as Infrastructure Logistics Pvt Ltd (ILPL) and Hardesh Ores Pvt Ltd.
ILPL, which has its office at St Inez in the state capital, mainly focuses on transportation and auxiliary heavy machinery.
Hardesh Ores, which lists Mohit Anil Manjrekar as the director, is involved in quarrying and mineral extraction.
Manjrekar is also listed as a director of Fomento Agro Development Pvt Ltd and Bhaangar Bhuin, a Konkani daily published from Goa.
The Fomento group has extensive business interests in iron ore processing and transportation through trucks and barges.
A major chunk of the electoral bonds associated with Goa were purchased by mining companies, including Vedanta Ltd that operates iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha.
The Dempo group also chose to channel some of its electoral bond purchases through subsidiaries such as Goa Carbon, Motown Trading, Navhind Publications and Devashri Nirman LLP.
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