Mysore Paints and Varnish

Indelible black ink was initially manufactured by the company to meet the needs of the Indian elections. It is usually applied on the finger nail of the voter and leaves an indelible mark which is not easy to erase. The mark stays on the finger for nearly 20 days. This prevents the voter from exercising the franchise again and hence checks fraud.[1] The indelible ink is supplied in vials having volumes of 5 ml, 7.5 ml, 20 ml, 50 ml and 80 ml. A 5 ml vial can be used for about 300 voters.

One of the major customers for this ink is the Election Commission of India which places orders based on the number of voters involved in the election. The ink is then supplied to Chief Electoral Officers who further distribute it to individual voting centres.[2] It is estimated that around 300 million people have had this ink applied over a period of 45 years.[2]

The ink is also exported to countries like Thailand, Singapore, Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa.[1] It has also started manufacturing marker pens containing this ink for easy usage and this has also been used in elections held in Afghanistan.[3] The company also manufactured indelible ink for Cambodian election in 2008 and 2013.[4]

The company also manufactures other products such as chemical-resistant paints, enamels, primers, distempers, sealing wax, postage stamp cancellation, and polishes.[5] The sealing wax manufactured by the MVPL is used by India Post, and the Election Commission to seal ballot boxes was the first product to be manufactured by them.[4]