[Reader-list] Indian IT Firms to Rake In on Smartcard Projects

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All

One more news bit on the ID card industry.

Excerpts-

-The citizen ID card program proposed by the Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI) will be supported by a vast eco-system,
comprising data collectors or managers, delivery channels, chip
designers, smart card manufacturers, application and software
providers, system integrators, networking analysts and print
companies. -

-IT companies like TCS and Infosys have confirmed that they would
actively bid for the project.-

-Around 27 large e-governance projects worth Rs. 40,000 crore are
currently in the pipeline.-

Are we witnessing an open loot of the Indian coffers here? May be some
one should look into whether the Home Ministry officials, Planning
Commission officials, retired bureaucrats of the Ministry of IT and
politicians of the Congress, the BJP, the Communists and of course the
print and electronic media have any shares or holdings of TCS and
Infosys?

 Maybe they don't, but what if, one were to conjecture that some of
them do have, significantly large amount of holdings belonging to TCS
and Infosys, which may amount to having wealth which is
disproportionate to the known sources of income?

 My question is, what will this tell us about the way in which our
polity works or functions?

Regards

Taha

http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=7504

Indian IT Firms to Rake In on Smartcard Projects
      Date Submitted: Thu Jul 02, 2009

BANGALORE: The ongoing migration of Indian citizens from paper cards
to smart cards is throwing up a multibillion dollar business
opportunity for domestic technology players.

The citizen ID card program proposed by the Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI) will be supported by a vast eco-system,
comprising data collectors or managers, delivery channels, chip
designers, smart card manufacturers, application and software
providers, system integrators, networking analysts and print
companies. The entire ID card project in India is estimated to be
around Rs. 10,000 crore, with the first phase covering ultra-urban,
urban, and semi-urban population offering Rs. 6,500 crore business
opportunities.

IT companies like TCS and Infosys have confirmed that they would
actively bid for the project. “The entire process including the
bidding process, deal negotiations and business evaluation, are
expected to be transparent. There will not be any conflict of interest
for us and therefore, we will participate in the bid,’’ said a Senior
Official at Infosys Technologies.

TCS has already been working with the government on projects like
e-passport, Gujarat police and the Defence Ministry. “Since it is
going to be an open bidding process, we will be bidding for it,’’ said
a Senior Official at TCS.

Around 27 large e-governance projects worth Rs. 40,000 crore are
currently in the pipeline. Having been badly hit by the economic
recession, many technology leaders have been urging the government to
accelerate these projects to induce economic buoyancy. The UIDAI comes
as a quick response to the industry’s call.

Som Mittal, the President of IT industry body Nasscom, told Times of
India, “This is a transformational project for the country as it will
overlay many underlying projects, creating huge efficiencies for the
country leading to enhanced governance and reduced costs.”