This 76-year-old factory in Mysuru becomes fully occupied when the country or the States witness elections as the special product it manufactures is most indispensable in an election. For, it is the country’s sole manufacturer of indelible ink that is used for applying on the voters’ finger.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd (MPVL), a government of Karnataka undertaking, has got order from the Election Commission of India (ECI) for producing 26.5 lakh vials of indelible ink or the voters’ ink. This is reckoned to be the biggest order the factory has received from the EC since it started producing the ink.
MPVL is an enterprise started by the Mysore Maharajas and has been supplying ink for every election in the country for over six decades.