News Hour- Reliance Communications-HCL Infosystems consortium wins Rs 300 crore Aadhaar contract

NEW DELHI: Telecom services provider Reliance Communications (RCom), in a consortium led by IT firm HCL Infosystems, is believed to have bagged the Rs 300 crore network and subscriber contract for government's national identity card programme, Aadhaar. 

According to sources, Anil Ambani-led RCom has won the number repository and IT infrastructure contract for Aadhaar as part of a consortium led by HCL Infosystems. 

Value of the contract carried out by RCom is expected to be in the range of Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore, sources said. 

RCom will provide network and telecom support for Aadhar, they added. 

Unique identification project, Aadhar, was initially conceived by the Planning Commission as an initiative to provide identification for each resident across the country and use it as a basis for efficient delivery of welfare services. 

The UID number is also envisaged to act as a tool for effective monitoring of various programs and schemes of the Government. 

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) would start enrolling 40 crore people for issuance of Aadhaar numbers in April, its Chairman Nandan M Nilekani said last week. 

"We will restart enrollment of about 40 crore in April", he told reporters in response to questions. "We will do (enrollment of) about two crore a month". 

UIDAI has enrolled 20 crore people so far, of which 13.5 crore have already been issued Aadhaar numbers, while the process is on to clear the backlog vis-a-vis the remaining 6.5 crore people.
(Source- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)