Sanjay Bhattacharya, secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, had earlier said that India will soon introduce e-passports with secure biometric data, adding that it will be in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
Announcing an upgrade to the traditional printed passports in circulation currently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government will issue e-passports, which will use Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) and biometrics to verify the identity of the person, in the financial year 2022-23.
Officials said the idea is to increase security in addition to ensuring smooth passage at immigration posts globally.
Sanjay Bhattacharya, secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, had earlier said that India will soon introduce e-passports with secure biometric data, adding that it will be in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
The e-passports will have embedded chips containing data related to the passport holder, like name, biometric data and other information, officials said. The system will also be able to detect instances of tampering with the chip, in which case the passport will not be authenticated.
According to Bhattacharya, the new e-passports will be manufactured at India Security Press (ISP), Nashik.
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar had earlier said that they are examining the possibility of the project with the ISP. “We propose to pursue the manufacture of e-passports on priority so that a new passport booklet with advanced security features can be rolled out in the near future,” Jaishankar had said.
