UID project gets Rs 1900 Crore - Govt to set up a Tech Advisory

One of India’s most ambitious projects, Unique Identification (UID)–where every Indian will be given a unique number–has received a huge boost with Dr Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Finance, allocating Rs 1900 crore to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for 2010-11.

The Finance minister said that the UIDAI is on track to issue the first set of UID numbers this year. The allocation of funds will help the UIDAI speed up execution, as it gets into the operational phase.

The UID is the world’s largest biometric project, and is expected to usher in new opportunities for business for Indian IT companies. Industry body, Nasscom, has projected approximate revenues of USD 4 billion by 2015, due to the UID project.

The government has also recognized the crucial role of technology in improving governance. Currently, IT projects like Tax Information Network, New Pension Scheme, National Treasury Management Agency, Expenditure Information Network, Goods and Service Tax, are in different stages of rollout. The Finance minister has proposed setting up a Technology Advisory Group for unique projects under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani to make these systems more effective and to look into various technological issues.

The budget will also accelerate the thrust towards ‘Green IT.’ The budget has proposed creating a National Clean Energy Fund that will be used for funding research in innovative clean energy technologies. While green technologies such as virtualization and unified communications have found huge adoption among Indian companies, the creation of this fund can act as a catalyst to spur the development and adoption of new clean energy technologies.