Union Budget: India to start issuing e-passports this year, says finance minister

New Delhi: India will start issuing e-passports this year, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament.

E-passports were first announced in 2019 and are compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards. The document will ease the passage of passengers through immigration check-ins.

They will have an embedded chip that will contain all the personal information including the biographical details. They will also have a digital signature that is unique to each country and can be easily verified using a certificate.

The system will be able to identify issues with the chip if anyone tampers with it or when passport authentication fails in case of tampering.

Moreover, to facilitate faster movement of people and goods, the minister said that PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Expressways will be formulated in 2022-23, adding that the national highways network will be expanded by 25,000km in the current financial year and Rs200 billion will be mobilised to complement public resources.

Sitharaman further said, “PM Gati Shakti is driven by seven engines: roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways, logistics infra. All seven engines will pull forward the #Economy in unison Supported by energy transmission, IT communication, bulk water and sewerage and social infrastructure.”

Sitharaman informed Parliament that India’s growth is estimated to be at 9.27 per cent in the current year.

“India’s economic growth in the current year is estimated to be 9.2 per cent, highest among all large economies,” she said.

With inputs from ANI