Election Commission seeks over ₹500cr for new EVMs for 2029
The Election Commission of India is asking the government for over ₹500 crore to buy fresh electronic voting machines (EVMs) for the 2029 general elections.
With polling stations set to jump from about 10.53 lakh in 2024 to nearly 15.39 lakh in 2029, thanks to a new cap of 1,200 voters per booth, ECI also needs replacements as older machines from the 2013-14 batch are being retired (to be retired by 2029).
ECI plans 3.57L ballot units
To handle the 46% increase in the number of polling stations, ECI plans to order around 3.57 lakh ballot units and 1.25 lakh control units, plus extra machines as backup for any defects.
The production and quality checks should wrap up by March next year, and the cost per machine is now a bit lower than before—helping make sure India's next big election runs smoothly and securely.