The southern city of Mysuru inks its indelible mark on the ongoing Assembly elections in five States. The Mysuru-based State owned Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd has supplied indelible ink which is popularly called election ink to the election commission of India for the five States which are going to polls.
Chhattisgarh has already completed the election process and the other four States Mizoram, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana have already received the ink through election commission of India. The four States will complete election process by December 2018.
According to an email communication received from A. Harakumar, General Manager of the Mysuru based company, Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd has supplied indelible ink to five States at a cost of Rs 5.20 crores.
In his reply he said that they have supplied 10 ml phials of ink to these States and a total of 4,12,940 (10 ml) phials for the ensuing elections. In this Mizoram has received 2,500 phials, Chhattisgarh 52,000 phials, Madhya Pradesh 1,45,000 phials and Telangana State received 1,27,440 phials of indelible ink to the process of democracy in the country.
An ISO 9001-2015 and 14001- 2015 certified company is part of the history of Mysore kings. Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar who ruled the State giving impetus to industry and development has founded this company in 1937 to give jobs to local youth. The election commission of India has authorised the Mysore Paints to supply election ink for the elections in the country. This is the only company in the country which is producing election ink since decades. The election ink technology is developed by CSIR. The company is also developing marker pen for the elections which is in R&D stage.
In addition, the company manufactures Lead Free (Eco Friendly) paint, Road Marking Paint, Polyurethane Paint. The Company has been rated as “High Performance Capacity and High Financial Unit” by the National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. The Government of Karnataka has awarded the “Annual Chief Minister’s Ratna Award for the year 2010-11 and for the year 2015-16” for its Performance Excellence.
The rationale behind the establishment of the factory was to provide employment opportunities locally and for effective utilization of the natural resources of the forest nearby. Since 1962 the company is supplying indelible ink to elections in the country and abroad.
According to official sources the formula of the ink is a closely guarded secret and have been sending ink to 30 countries, including India, Thailand, Singapore, Nigeria, Malaysia, Cambodia, and South Africa. The company has around 100 employees and making profit since 1995. Made in Karnataka ink is an indelible component in the election process of the country.