IT Minister Asks Qualcomm for Innovation on Aadhaar-Based Payments

Stating that technical prowess of India's unique identification number is "well accepted" the world over, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday asked global chip maker Qualcomm to look at innovations around strengthening digital payments based on Aadhaar.

"Can you come with an innovation of a chip which can become integral to Aadhaar itself as far as determining verifiable digital identity is concerned. Aadhaar's technical prowess is now well accepted...the whole world is appreciating that," the Minister told senior Qualcomm executives at a conference in New Delhi.

He said that a new payment system powered by Aadhaar is on verge of finalisation.

"We are just going to finalise the whole process very soon of an Aadhaar enabled payment where, at a flick of your thumb, you can make digital payment. Can Qualcomm think of supporting innovation in this field to make this new unique digital platform more flawless," he said.

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The Minister said that Jan Dhan accounts had been linked to Aadhaar and to mobiles. "...and we started sending out the entire subsidy directly to their bank accounts through mobile and we saved Rs. 36,000 crores which used to be pilfered by the middlemen," the Minister said.

Noting that India is at a cusp of a digital revolution, Prasad said that initiatives like Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, and smart cities were working in sync to make the country a technologically empowered society.

"Indians are creating IP, innovating, researching for big companies. Please given them a helping hand so they also innovate for India, create Indian patents, design it for Indian conditions. Maybe you will see evolution of Indian Qualcomm company. That is what Indians are capable of," the Minister said.