Mandava Prabhakar Rao, a self-styled businessman and former ABVP secretary associated with the RSS is known for his infamous legal battle against global giant Monsanto.
NSL Group Director Mandava Prabhakar Rao is linked to purchases of electoral bonds worth ₹53 crores.
Dr Mandava Prabhakar Rao of Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL), known as Cotton King of India, hogged headlines several times earlier.
He is back, but for a different reason: His name appears — not insignificantly — on the electoral bonds’ list!
Rao, a former secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which is affiliated with the RSS, is linked to the purchase of electoral bonds worth around ₹53.5 crore — individually, through his firm’s subsidiaries, as well as linked companies.
Over the years, NSL has been in the news for various reasons, including disputes over seed patent rights, income-tax raids, and suspensions by state governments for violating the Seeds Act of 1966 as well as alleged use of illegal genes in seeds.
The Rao-led NSL Group and linked firms — with interests in seeds, cotton, sugars, textiles, power, and Infratech — purchased electoral bonds worth ₹53.5 crore between 10 October, 2022, and 3 July, 2023.
Prabhakar Rao took the reins of NSL — a company founded by his father Mandava Venkataramaiah in 1973 — in 1983. Later, NSL expanded and became a key player in the seed industry in the ₹5,000-crore club — spanning six sectors — held by Mandava Holdings Private Limited (MHPL).
On 10 October, 2022, Rao purchased the first set of electoral bonds worth ₹50 lakh and ₹14.5 crore through NSL SEZ (Hyderabad) Private Limited, which is led by his son Venkatramana Chowdhary.
NSL’s subsidiary and linked companies made the second-term purchase on 10 April, 2023, and 12 April, 2023, worth ₹17 crore: NSL SEZ Hyd (₹5 crore), NSL Renewable Power Private Limited (₹5 crore), Prabhakar Rao Asha Priya Properties (₹3 crore), Divya Sri NSL (₹1 crore), Prabhat Homes Private Limited (₹2 crore), and Midas Projects Private Limited (₹1 crore).
In the third set of purchases, on 10 April, 2023, ₹4.5 crore of bonds of bonds were brought by his subsidiary company Asian Agri Genetics.
Additionally, ₹2 crore bonds were bought by two Bengaluru-based linked companies: Divyasree Softtech Realtors Pvt Ltd (₹1 crore), and Divyasree Holdings Pvt Ltd (₹1 crore). Although these two companies are not directly linked to NSL, one of the directors, Sumeet Chawla, associated with NSL Midas Projects Private Limited, sits on the Divyasree board.
Similarly, the small linked entities Curate Living Solutions, Chaya Real Estate, and Bishop Weed Food Craft donated ₹1 crore each.
On 11 April, 2023, Fortune Estate Developers also bought ₹1 crore bonds, the company’s director is also Sumit Chawala. On the next day, another company part of Divyasree Holdings, Bhagyasree Realtors bought bonds worth ₹1 crore.
In the same month, Rao received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the AgriBusiness Summit on 27 April, 2023, conferred by the then Telangana agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy.
Another set of purchases was on 3 July, 2023, with another NSL subsidiary — Super Cyber Tech Park Private Limited — acquiring ₹10 crore worth of bonds.
Incidentally, five months after the third-term purchase, on 21 December, 2023, Prabhakar Rao, the founder member and president of the National Seed Association of India (NSAI) — India’s largest domestic seed industry body — also assumed the role of president of Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA).
Interestingly, Rao gained prominence in Delhi circles by rallying the support of the RSS and the BJP in his case against global giant Monsanto.
The legal dispute between NSL and Monsanto revolved around the cultivation and distribution of genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton seeds.
Monsanto, a US agrochemical giant, held the patent for Bt cotton technology, which conferred resistance against certain insects by producing a toxin lethal to them.
NSL was involved in the production and sale of seeds, including those incorporating the Bt cotton technology of Monsanto. However, a rift arose between NSL and Monsanto in 2016 concerning licensing agreements and royalty payments for the use of the latter’s patented technology.
The core argument of the dispute was whether the Nucleotide Acid Sequence (NAS) containing the Bt gene, which Monsanto claimed as patentable under the Patents Act of 1970, became an integral part of the seed after insertion, constituting an essential biological process rather than a patentable micro-organism.
The case involved a debate on whether NAS fell under the Patents Act or the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Act, depending on whether it became “a part of the plant or the seed” after insertion.
In April 2018, a Delhi court gave a ruling in favour of NSL, setting aside Monsanto’s claim of patent as not applicable for the seeds that fall under plants. But, Monsanto challenged the order in the Supreme Court and the decision came in favour of Monsanto. It won an arbitration ruling over royalties from NSL on 12 February, 2019.
Despite some settlements between Monsanto and NSL, Rao persisted in his opposition to Monsanto in the Indian seed market.
The Union government intervened by attempting to reduce Monsanto’s royalties and potential compulsory licensing regimes.
According to a report by Reuters, Rao’s strategic alliances with government bodies and RSS-linked organisations reflected a broader pushback against Monsanto’s dominance in the Indian agricultural market.
“…[T]he agriculture ministry first challenged and then slashed the royalties Monsanto is able to charge in India. The ministry called for an antitrust investigation into alleged monopolistic practices by the company. It also floated the idea of a compulsory licensing regime that would all but force Monsanto and other firms to hand over their proprietary technology to major Indian seed companies that applied for licences,” reported Reuters, where it mentioned how Radha Mohan, the Union agriculture minister in 2019, helped Rao.
Rao, with his NSAI position, was seen supporting the three controversial farm laws introduced by the BJP government at the Centre in September 2020.
Rao also shares a close association with the former vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, a top leader of the saffron party in Telugu states.
In January 2019, the government of Andhra Pradesh suspended the licence of NSL for a duration of one year for allegedly testing illegal combinations of seeds without any proper permissions.
This action followed findings by the Field Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC), established under the Prime Minister’s Office in October 2018, which confirmed the widespread cultivation of herbicide-tolerant genetically modified (HTBT) cotton across the country.
The FISEC investigations revealed that the spread of the HT gene was not solely due to pollen or gene flow from field trials — the unintentional transfer of pollen or genetic material from genetically modified crops being tested in experimental fields to surrounding plants — as claimed by some stakeholders.
Furthermore, the committee deemed all HT cotton hybrids and their parental lines to be unauthorised or illegal seeds.
“In view of the said facts, the appellant (NSL) has contravened & violated the provisions of Sections 6, 7 of Seeds Act, 1966, read with Section 21, 23 and Clause 3.8A of the Seeds (Control) Order, 1983, and terms and conditions of the licence, and hence the licensing authority has no option but to suspend this license for a period of one year,” said the order from the Agriculture Department.
In 2018, a Reuters report said seeds supplied by two local companies in Andhra Pradesh might have contained traces of an unauthorised genetically modified (GM) strain from Monsanto.
The state government initiated an investigation after discovering that nearly 15 percent of its cotton fields were planted with an unapproved variety of GM seeds developed by Monsanto, which holds a significant share of India’s cotton seed market.
During the investigation, farmers reported that the seeds that tested positive for the unapproved strain belonged to brands marketed by Kaveri Seed Co Ltd and Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd.
The company is also embroiled in an income-tax (I-T) case dating back to 2012-13. During this period, the company filed tax returns indicating a lower income, as certain incomes were claimed as exempt under the Income Tax Act as the company claimed involvement in agriculture.
The I-T Department requested the company to provide supporting information to substantiate its claims.
In response, the company submitted a note detailing income and expenditure breakdowns related to agriculture and business, research and development specifics, processing expenses, etc.
Upon thorough review, the department determined that the company’s activities primarily revolved around scientific and technological processes applied to seeds, leading to seed multiplication in farmers’ fields for commercial purposes, and not for agriculture purposes.
Further, in the I-T Department search operations on 17 January, 2018, it found “incriminating” evidence establishing the real nature of the alleged agreements with farmers.
However, the company claimed that it entered into agreements with farmers through contracts, indicating a lack of direct involvement in seed cultivation or direct income derivation from agriculture.
As recently as 9 March, the Union Agriculture Ministry’s decision regarding the price hike for Bt cotton seeds for the Kharif season (2024-2025) was met with dissatisfaction from the NSAI.
When the government set the price at ₹864 per 450-gm pack, Prabhakar Rao advocated for an increase to ₹1,011 against the current fixed price.
In his letter, he cited the narrowing profit margins for seed companies since 2016-17, which led many to reconsider their participation in the cotton seed business.
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