(a) whether the Government has completed the tendering and procurement process necessary for rolling out the e-passport scheme;
(b) if so, the details thereof, including the proposed time period for implementing the scheme;
(c) if not, the reasons therefor;
(d) whether the Government has converted all existing and valid hand written passports into Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) to meet the November, 2015 deadline of foreign Governments after which non-MRPs would be invalid; and
(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? |
| ANSWER |
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]
(a) & (b) The Government has given its approval for procurement of electronic contactless inlays alongwith its operation system required for manufacturing of e-passports to the India Security Press (ISP), Nashik. The ISP has accordingly floated a global Pre-Qualification Bid (PQB) in July 2014. The evaluation report on the PQBs received from nine global companies has already been submitted to the Board of Directors of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL) in October 2014 for their approval. The technical specifications for Request for Proposal (RFP) to be issued to security cleared companies are also being worked out. Further, as per the directives of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for providing preference to the Domestically Manufactured Electronic Products (DMEP) in Government procurement, the ISP has also finalized a separate development tender. The entire tendering process involving dual-bid system is likely to be completed in the year 2016.
(c) Does not arise.
(d) & (e) Out of approximately 6 crores valid Indian passports in circulation as on date, about 2.5 lakhs passports are estimated to be non-Machine Readable Passports. The Government has been regularly advising such passport holders through public notices to get their passports renewed voluntarily before November 2015. |
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