Budget 2022: E-passports to be rolled out in 2022-23, announces FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently said that the issuing of E-passports will begin in 2022-23 to improve citizen convenience. The passport jacket will feature an electronic chip with crucial security information.

The Ministry of External Affairs will issue chip-enabled e-Passports with enhanced security features to citizens. Personal information provided by applicants would be digitally signed and stored on a chip embedded in the passport booklet. If the chip is tampered with, the system will identify it, causing the passport authentication to fail.

Earlier, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar stated that the government has begun conversations with the 'India Security Press' about the concept of distributing chip-enabled e-passports to residents. "We propose to prioritise the production of e-passports so that a new passport booklet with increased security features may be introduced in the near future," the minister added.

Meanwhile, India Security Press, Nashik, has been granted a contract for the acquisition of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)-compliant electronic contactless inlays, as well as the operating system required for chip-enabled e-Passports, in order to produce e-Passports. The issuance of e-Passports will begin after ISP, Nashik has completed the procurement procedure.

India presently only offers printed passports to users, although e-passports are accessible in nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The e-passport would be highly beneficial to passengers since it would remove the need to wait in large lines in front of the immigration office. In comparison to the physical verification at the immigration desk, the e-passport might be scanned in minutes. It will also assist to reduce the number of false passports issued since scammers would find it difficult to tamper with the data stored on the microchip.

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• Budget 2022
• E-passports
• Ministry of External Affairs
• Nirmala Sitharaman
• Budget session