The government gave its approval for the procurement of electronic contactless inlays for the manufacturing of e-passports to India Security Press (ISP), Nashik. The government press is a subsidiary of the Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), a public undertaking of the Indian government.

In this regard, ISP, Nashik was authorised to float a global tender for procurement of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)-compliant electronic contactless inlays along with its operating system, which is required for the manufacture of e-passports. The manufacturing is supposed to commence on the successful completion of the tendering and procurement process by the press.

1. The ministry of external affairs has plans to soon issue chip-enabled e-passports to citizens with advanced security features that will support smooth passage through immigration globally.

2. It has been the constant endeavour of the ministry to enhance passport services, in fact all citizen services that we provide, and introduce new features and facilities in the passport and our passport services,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

3. The Prime Minister had announced that we, India, would be introducing e-passports. We are in the process of implementing this project.

4. MEA secretary Sanjay Bhattacharya tweeted that India will soon introduce the ICAO-compliant next-gen e-passports for citizens with secure biometric data and it will ease passage through immigration posts worldwide.

5. India has a network of about 555 Passport Kendras, including 36 Passport Offices, 93 Passport Seva Kendras and 426 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK), according to government data.

6. According to Pune-based Allied Market Research, the global ePassport market size is expected to grow from $20.9 billion in 2020 to $ 97.6 billion by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate of 27.5 percent from 2021 to 2027.