Ink factor: 56,000 bottles for 2.8 crore voters

HYDERABAD: When you flash the indelible mark on your index finger, the hallmark of a vibrant

democracy

, spare a thought on how the story is inked.


It will take 56,130

bottles

of ink for marking 2,80,64,680 Telangana

voters

to curb rigging. “A 10ml bottle of ink caters to 500 voters, has a 90-day expiry and the stain sticks for a week,” Shashank Rayudu, chief executive officer (CEO) of Hyderabad-based Rayudu Laboratories told TOI.

Rayudu Labs and Mysorebased PSU Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd are the only two firms manufacturing voter’s ink in India and also supply to nations going to vote. The twin firms manufacture 25,000-30,000 bottles a day, wrapped in 10-bottle packs and flown to even farflung polling stations.

Though Hyderabad is home to a voter’s ink manufacturing firm, it doesn’t mean it will cater to Telangana polls. “Central Election Commission (CEC) drives purchase orders and fixes supply points, just days ahead of poll to avoid irregularities” said Rayudu. Sources said since the poll panel does not allow the company in the region to supply ink, MPVL floated by erstwhile Mysore king Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar in 1937, may be the ink provider in Telangana.