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Central Government, Security, Technology

India to launch e-passport services

By Dr Vikash Ranjan | 8 June 2010

A surge in demand for passport services has prompted the Government of India to undertake a pilot project to issue its citizens with e-passports.

The new passports, designed by the Central Passport Organisation, the India Security Press, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, will contain a security chip with an embedded digital photo and fingerprints.

The one billion-rupee (US$21 million) contract to issue e-passports was awarded to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 2008, which plans to set up 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in different parts of the country by 2011.

It is expected to take 45 minutes to submit an online application for a passport, three days to issue a passport, one week to re-issue a passport, and 21 days for the delivery of a new passport. In the past the process would take a minimum of 45 days.

To counter information security fears, the passports will contain biometrics and other technology to detect and avoid malicious attacks. Critical information is printed on the data page of the passport and stored in the chip. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is used to authenticate the data stored in the chip making it virtually impossible to forge.

To account for natural disasters, the 77 PSKs will be linked to a centralised data and disaster recovery centre in New Delhi and connected with passport offices and district police headquarters.

The data centre and disaster recovery centre will be manned by the consular and passport division (CPV) of the external affairs ministry, along with the National Informatics Centre and the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).

Requests for passports are projected to grow from 5.7 million in 2010 to 10 million in 2011.

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