EC places order for indelible ink for polls

After finalising the electoral rolls, the Election Commission (EC) has begun preparations for the Karnataka assembly polls by placing orders for the indelible ink to mark the left hand forefinger of the voters.

The EC has placed orders for the supply of 1.10 lakh bottles of indelible ink to the Mysore-based Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd (MPVL). Following this, the country's oldest indelible ink manufacturer, which supplies the ink to India and exports to around 25 countries abroad, is gearing up its production to meet the EC's requirements.

"The EC has placed orders for 110,000 bottles. We received the orders 2-3 days back," MPVL managing director M V Hemantha Kumar told Business Standard today.

Each bottle is of 25 ml content and following the EC orders the MPVL has stepped up its operations for supply of the ink in time to the Election Commission.

Regarding the revenue that may be generated from this supply, he said this had been taken up with the EC. "They have to approve the rate. The rate depends upon the EC," he remarked.

"We are prepared to supply the ink any day the EC asks," he said, recalling that since 1962 the MPVL has been the only supplier of the indelible ink for all elections in the country, and is the authorised suppliers in many other countries abroad.

"Similarly, if the orders are received for the supply of the bottles for the Lok Sabha elections, the Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd will meet the required quantity in time," Vasantha Kumar said.

An outcome of the vision of the then Mysore Maharaja, Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, and his famous Dewan Sir M Visvesvaraya, the Mysore Lac was established in 1937 in Mysore for the manufacture of lac that was available in plenty in the forests of the then Mysore state in those days.

It diversified into manufacturing paints in 1940 and was renamed the Mysore Lac and Paints, and later in 1978 with the non-availability of lac, it was rechristened the Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd., converting it into a public limited company from a fully state-owned undertaking.

The state government even now holds 94 per cent of the share in investments.

In 2006-07, Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd has made a turnover of Rs 13 crore and earned a profit of Rs 1.83 crore.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Fiji, Soloman Islands, Nigeria and Mangolia are among the countries to which the ink is exported.