“I expect the first set of cards to be issued by one of the partners in 12-18 months,” Nilekani, 54, told The Indian Express that first reported on June 22 his likely appointment by the UPA government as the head of the ID project.

The first corporate CEO to get a Cabinet minister’s rank and status in the UPA, Nilekani has quit the Infosys board of directors to chair the National UID Authority, notified on January 28.

Hours after meeting the Prime Minister in Delhi today, Nilekani said he has been assured flexibility in recruiting professionals. “I will finalise the blueprint for the project within a month. The Infosys background helps me understand the architecture issues and broadly the kind of collaboration we will require across government agencies to make it work,” he said.

Having co-founded Infosys and been so much a part of it for the last 30 years, Nilekani said it was a difficult decision to quit the company. “What makes this project challenging besides the technical complexity is the huge organisational complexity — in terms of coordinating with government agencies, etc,” Nilekani said. The Authority will get statutory backing to help facilitate such coordination.

“We will work in partnership with existing card issuers. I will provide a common set of standards for identity to all partners — who could be government agencies, banks, and even the private sector,” said Nilekani whose personal wealth is estimated at $1.3 billion.

“I always thought information infrastructure is as important as physical infrastructure. It will bring huge consequential set of benefits, in terms of larger financial inclusion, better targeting of subsidies, etc,” he said. The project will capture personal data of all citizens and eventually revolutionise the way the government transacts its business — be it the country’s internal security or the public delivery systems.

The project will eventually eliminate the need for multiple identification mechanisms and will remove hassles relating to proof of identify when it comes to say, opening a bank account, getting a telephone connection, paying taxes, casting vote and claiming benefits from government schemes. If Nilekani does deliver a world-class system that will capture biometric data of a citizen besides his/ her photograph and personal details, various central ministries can decide whether they can use this platform to meet their requirements, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Wipro, a leading software company, is officially consulting the government on the ID project. It is helping the government in programming the software and creating the national database. The government-owned National Informatics Centre can handle the software post coding and also handle the database.

“We are glad that an extraordinary individual like Nandan has got an opportunity to add value to India through this position. As a company that has always put the interest of society ahead of itself, Infosys will accept his absence with a sense of duty to a larger cause,” Infosys Chairman and Mentor N R Narayana Murthy said.

The Authority will identify targeted groups that are the intended beneficiaries of the various flagship programmes of the government. These include the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, National Rural Health Mission and Bharat Nirman. The unique identification number would ensure that any lacuna in these schemes is removed so that the benefits reach directly to those they are intended for.