Mysuru, DHNS: Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd gears up for the task.With the Union government ordering banks to use indelible ink on those swapping scrapped notes, staff at the Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd (MPVL), the only company authorised to manufacture the substance in the country, are working overtime to meet the huge demand.

The government has asked for vials of indelible ink, and production will begin on Wednesday, H A Venkatesh, chairman of the state government-owned MPVL, told DH. “As and when we receive indents from banks, we will start despatching the consignments. Whatever be the demand, we will produce the ink and supply it,” he said.

The colour and quality of the ink will be on a par with that used in elections. Venkatesh said that it was for the government to decide which finger banks should ink to avoid duplication, as elections were scheduled in some states in the coming months. During the day, RBI officials from Bengaluru visited the MPVL and inspected samples of the indelible ink, a source said.

The company was established in 1937 by Nalwadi Krishnaraj Wadiyar, the then ruler of Mysuru, as Mysore Lac and Paint Works Limited, according to the MPVL’s general manager, C Harakumar. In 1962, the MPVL was selected to manufacture indelible ink. Ever since, the company has been manufacturing the indelible ink and supplying it to the Election Commission of India, the National Physical Laboratory, the Union government and the National Research Development Corporation. It got its present name in 1989. It also exports ink to Thailand, Singapore, Nigeria, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa.

Narendra Modi, while canvassing for the BJP during the general elections in Mysuru on April 8, 2014, had said that the MPVL was competent enough to manufacture the ink required to print notes, thus reducing the import and the stress on foreign exchange. “Mysuru supplies ink to mark the dark spot on a voter’s fingernail. That dark spot should erase all black marks on the nation, including corruption,” he had said.