A senior executive told Economic Times that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) might roll out chip-based e-passports by the end of this year. And TCS Public Sector Business Unit Head Tej Bhatla told ET that the company was in the process of setting up a new command and control centre with the Ministry of External Affairs as well as a new data centre to support the project.
This is part of the second phase of the passport project that the government recently gave to TCS.
"The ministry is looking at a launch timeline within this year and we are working towards that," Bhatla said. "Once it is implemented, the new passports will be chip-based."
On the current worldwide chip shortage, Bhatla said that it was accounted for in the e-passport roll-out timeline. "Supply chain issues are definitely impacting everything," he said. "Even for Passport Seva 2.0, we are setting up a new data centre and the two existing data centres will get refreshed. So, we do have a lot of dependency on some of the hardware coming from outside the country." However, he anticipated that the e-passport project was to be spaced out over time, which would ensure that demand was managed.
The company processes an average of 15-20 million passports annually as a part of the programme.
In the next project phase, TCS will refresh existing facilities and systems, build new solutions for e-passport issuance and improve the citizen experience in the application process. This will include providing a revamped look to Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and improving infrastructure at Post Office PSKs.
A single joint command centre will be set up on the MEA premises and Bhatla said he expected the number of PO PSKs to rise to 500 this year.
In January, the ministry renewed its 10-year PSK deal with TCS, which is worth over Rs 6,000 crore. To date, this is the nation’s biggest mission-critical e-governance programme.