New Delhi :
The rollout of the much-anticipated e-Passport for Indian citizens is likely to begin by the end of the current financial year.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) in its action taken report on the status of Passport Seva Project 2.0 to the Parliamentary standing committee has said that the project is progressing,
as per time frame and the government is hopeful of starting issue of e-passports to its citizens, starting in 2022-23.
Explaining the current status, the MEA informed the parliamentary panel that based on the recommendation of the Delegated Investment Board,
the ministry has approved the proposal to implement the ePassport Project.
The technical responsibilities of issuing the e-Passport is entrusted to the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Full-scale manufacture and issue will commence with the completion of the technical eco-system and infrastructure.
Since the project is initiated on the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),
the e-Passport implementation will be in alignment with the global best practices, the government informs.
The proposed e-Passports will have advanced security features and
better printing and paper quality.
An e-Passport will be a combination of paper and electronic passport with an embedded Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip
that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travellers.