India Telecom

April 18, 2003
Multi-billion dollar opportunity for India

NEW DELHI -- Smart card technology has heralded a revolution in the realm of financial or non-financial transactions. Multi-application smart cards (MASCs) have multifaceted potential for proliferation of e-commerce, e-governance, citizen facilitation and financial services across the country. Speaking at the recently held 2nd Smart Card Tech India 2003 exhibition and conference, in New Delhi, Thirunavukkarasar, the Minister of Information Technology, said their anticipated large-scale deployment in the country as well as scope for exports opens up many opportunities for local manufacturing and R&D in various associated domains.

Realising its importance and possible socio-economic impact, an apex committee was constituted under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to formulate common standards for MASCs in India. The report of this committee, along with deliberations of its two sub-committees and recommendations, is available on the Web site of the Department of Information Technology. The committee has also recognised the role played by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, National Informatics Centre (NIC), IIT, Kanpur and the industry in defining the Smart Card Operation Systems for Transport Applications (SCOSTA).

Introduction of smart card technology in large-scale government applications is a technological challenge in itself. It comprises of a very careful and well-calibrated approach to handle various issues concerning large-scale roll out of the technology across the country. The first and foremost is the issue of interoperability of the technology across the country. Interoperability can be achieved by having common standards, complied by all the user agencies in central and state governments.

"We are aware that many government agencies such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, Employees Provident Fund and others are planning to issue smart cards. We need to exercise some caution in this regard. For a large country like India, which has only limited resources, we should examine if it makes sense to work independently. I understand that the technology now permits deployment of a single card to meet the requirement of many of these agencies in a cost-effective manner."

While the intention is not to delay the implementation of smart card by any of these agencies, I would suggest that the same committee that defined SCOSTA (smart card operating system for transport applications), might examine extending the same for multiple applications. This process of standardisation will help the country in cost effectively deploying interoperable products and generate a larger volume of business for the local industry.

To catalyse and provide a boost to development and manufacturing activities in the country, my ministry will support R&D activity in various domains of multi-application smart cards in the country. To further facilitate the local industry, I feel it is necessary to have a national certification facility in the country for certifying multi-application smart card based products, software and services.

Though technology advancements are taking place at a very fast pace, the issue of affordability for harnessing their potential remains one of the prime concerns. We think local manufacturing not only helps in lowering the cost but also has many other associated benefits. We are particularly keen, in general, to provide a boost to hardware manufacturing activities in the country. I would welcome any proposals and initiatives from this forum in this direction.

Lastly, a lot of pioneering work has already been done in the country in the area of smart cards, and I wish to especially acknowledge early efforts of Aplab in developing smart card based payphones; the smart card based postal insurance service from the Department of Posts; SMARS (SMArt Rupees System) experiment at IIT, Mumbai; and the ISO compliant SCOSTA, already being used for driving license and vehicle registration applications. I wish that the government, the industry, the academia and the concerned agencies come together and combine their resources to make multi-application smart card based citizen based services, along with their associated benefits, a reality in the country.

The multi-application smart card industry is likely to emerge as a multi billion-dollar industry worldwide. India can advance as a significant global player in selected sectors of the smart cards. Also, in terms of domestic market, we have the potential to set up manufacturing facilities in the country. I request the manufacturers and entrepreneurs to examine this aspect.

(Condensed from the Minister's address at the 2nd Smart Card Tech India 2003 exhibition and conference, New Delhi on 12 March 2003.)