AIT Private Limited, the firm that bagged the contract of supplying ballot boxes to the Election Commission, has informed the EC that the first shipment of 10,000 ballot boxes has arrived in Kerung, the Chinese town bordering with Nepal.

The Lalitpur-based Nepali company, which will supply 30,000 ballot boxes for the local level elections scheduled for May 14, purchased the ballot boxes in China.

“We have got information from the supplier that the first shipment of ballot boxes has reached Kerung,” said Surya Prasad Sharma, the EC spokesperson.

A second shipment of 10,000 pieces is also on the way to the border point, according to another EC official. The third shipment would be airlifted to Kathmandu, the EC official said.

The supplier will reportedly deliver all the ballot boxes by April 10, although the set deadline is mid-April.

The election authority on March 1 invited tenders from interested suppliers to deliver ballot boxes made of plastic and their security seals.

The AIT-quoted price of Rs106.8 million to supply the logistics was lowest among six bidders. Of the 85,000 ballot boxes required for the polls, the EC has 65,000 at its disposal. The new boxes are twice as voluminous as the old ones.