Public administration, defence and security: Follow one offering through the chain
Governments raising taxes to fund law, defence, regulation and public services
Follow one offering through the chain
Running India's 2024 general election
Follow the world's largest election from the law and the voting machines to school booths, police and the count.
Parliament writes the rules
543Lok Sabha seats contested, 2024An election starts in law. Parliament's Representation of the People Act sets how the 543 Lok Sabha seats are filled, and the Constitution gives the Election Commission control of the poll. The Union government bears the whole cost of Lok Sabha polls; states pay for their own assembly polls. In 2024 voting ran in seven phases from 19 April, with counting on 4 June.1,5
Constraint The model code of conduct bars new government schemes and announcements for the whole poll period, about 80 days in 2024 (calculated).Voting machines from defence electronics firms
55 lakhEVMs used in 2024Votes go into electronic voting machines with paper-trail printers, made by two public sector firms, Bharat Electronics, a defence contractor, and Electronics Corporation of India. About 55 lakh EVMs were deployed in 2024. Fingers are marked with silver nitrate ink from Mysore Paints and Varnish, which supplied 26.55 lakh vials worth about ₹55 crore, each marking around 700 voters.4,1,2
Constraint Only two state-owned makers build the machines, so they are made well ahead and kept under guard in strongrooms between elections. Si SiliconCu CopperAg SilverZn Other and primary batteriesComputers and electronicsSemiconductorsFour lakh vehicles on the move
4 lakhvehicles used for the 2024 pollMoving the poll is a logistics operation. Staff, machines and security forces travel to polling stations by road, rail, boat and helicopter; about four lakh vehicles were used in 2024, with railways, state transport buses and hired private vehicles carrying teams to booths and bringing sealed machines back to strongrooms and counting centres.1
Constraint Taking buses and lorries off normal service for weeks disrupts public transport and freight in each phase; diesel and drivers set the pace. Oil Crude oilICV Combustion road vehiclesRail Rail tractionTransport and logisticsVehicles, ships, rail, aircraftSchools become booths, teachers officials
10.5 lakhpolling stations, 2024Many of the 10.5 lakh polling stations are in government school buildings, and teachers and other public employees make up much of the polling staff. With police, about 1.5 crore polling and security personnel worked the 2024 election, a temporary workforce larger than many countries' populations. Each booth must offer ramps, drinking water, light and shade.1,3,6
Constraint Drawing teachers into poll duty for weeks disrupts classes, and many school buildings need temporary ramps, toilets and lighting. H₂O WaterCem CementDist Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectorsEducation and researchConstruction and infrastructurePolice, flying squads and seizures
₹10,000crseized during the 2024 pollCentral armed police and state forces guard booths, strongrooms and counting centres in layers. Over 68,000 monitoring teams policed the model code in 2024, and seizures of cash, freebies, drugs and liquor reached about ₹10,000 crore, against ₹3,500 crore in 2019. Only 39 repolls were needed, compared with 540 in 2019.3
Constraint Security forces are finite, which is why polls are staggered over phases so the same companies can move from state to state. Oil Crude oilICV Combustion road vehiclesTelecommunicationsVehicles, ships, rail, aircraftSoftware and IT services64.2 crore votes, then the count
64.2 crvotes cast in 2024District officers acting for the Election Commission run the rolls, booths and counting. Nearly 97 crore Indians were registered and 64.2 crore voted, a world record the Commission says, including 31.2 crore women. On 4 June the machines were opened under observers' eyes and results declared for all 543 seats, completing the handover of power.3,1,2
Constraint Keeping nearly 97 crore names accurate needs constant house-to-house verification, and roll revisions are often challenged in court. Software and IT servicesTelecommunicationsWhat the chain shows
The world's largest election rests on two state-owned machine makers, one ink factory and 1.5 crore borrowed public servants; people and logistics, not technology, are the limit.
Sources
- Lok Sabha polls: biggest peacetime movement of men and material in world Deccan Herald, 2024
- Lok Sabha elections 2024 trivia: supply of indelible ink to states completed, biggest chunk for UP Deccan Herald, 2024
- CEC Rajiv Kumar says India has created world record with 642 million voters News On AIR (All India Radio), 2024
- Manual on Electronic Voting Machine, edition 8 Election Commission of India, 2023
- Union Budget 2025: Law Ministry gets funds for carry-forward expenditure on Lok Sabha polls and EVMs (PTI) The Tribune, 2025
- 'Pious duty' to fear and fatigue: Lok Sabha election for thousands of teachers among polling staff Careers360, 2024