Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited, formerly Mysore Lac and Paints Limited, is a company located in the

southern Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

city of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. It is the only company in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

authorised to produce indelible

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

, which is used in elections to prevent people from voting multiple times. The company is currently owned and operated by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

History

Mysore Lac and Paints Limited was founded by Maharaja

Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar; 4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, from 1902 until his death in 1940. He is popularly called ''Rajarshi'' ( sa, rājarṣi, lit ...

in 1937 for manufacturing paints and related products. It became a public sector company when India gained independence in 1947. In 1962, it was selected to manufacture indelible ink, which was first used in the third general election of India. The manufacturing process is a closely guarded secret and is based on a chemical formula devised by the

National Physical Laboratory of India The CSIR- National Physical Laboratory of India, situated in New Delhi, is the measurement standards laboratory of India. It maintains standards of SI units in India and calibrates the national standards of weights and measures. History of me ...

Products

Indelible ink

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. 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 The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...

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. It is estimated that around 300 million people have had this ink applied over a period of 45 years. The ink is also exported to countries like

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It has also started manufacturing marker pens containing this ink for easy usage and this has also been used in elections held in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The company also manufactured indelible ink for Cambodian election in 2008 and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Other products

The company also manufactures other products such as chemical-resistant paints, enamels, primers, distempers,

sealing wax Sealing wax is a wax material of a seal which, after melting, hardens quickly (to paper, parchment, ribbons and wire, and other material) forming a bond that is difficult to separate without noticeable tampering. Wax is used to verify something su ...

, postage stamp cancellation, and polishes. The sealing wax manufactured by the MVPL is used by

India Post India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ha ...

, and the Election Commission to seal ballot boxes was the first product to be manufactured by them.

Business

The company's business is highly dependent on the Indian general election (held once in five years) and in a year when the elections are held, significant increase in the revenue is observed. In the financial year 2006–2007, the company earned profits of 18 million (about $450K). For the 2004 general election of India, the company supplied orders worth 40 million (about $1 million). It earned 12.8 million (about $320K) when it supplied ink to the 2008 Cambodian general election.

References

{{reflist Chemical companies established in 1937 Paint companies of India Companies based in Mysore Chemical companies of India Indian companies established in 1937 Indian companies established in 1947