Bengaluru, Jul 7 (IANS): As one of his last official engagements, outgoing Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday unveiled three warehouses to safely store EVMs and VVPAT machines across the state.

"Governor Vala inaugurated EVM and VVPAT warehouses in Bengaluru Rural, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts virtually from here and laid the foundation stone for the annexe building of the state Chief Electoral Office (CEO) in this tech city," the Election Commission said in a statement here.

As an integral part of the election process, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines are used in Assembly and Parliamentary elections across the country.

"Warehouses to store EVMs and VVPAT machines are being constructed in 33 election districts across the southern state at a cost of Rs 123 crore to store them safely and securely," said an official.

The state Public Works Department (PWD) has built warehouses in four districts, including the three which the Governor unveiled, and one at Gadag in the state's northwest region.

"The remaining 29 warehouses are at various stages of construction across the state and are expected to be completed by November this year," said the statement.

As space for CEO officials is acute, the annexe building is being constructed adjacent to the Nirvachana Nilaya in the city centre at a cost of Rs 13.5 crore.

The annexe building is expected to be ready by December 2022, in time for conducting the next Assembly elections scheduled in 2023.