You can count on Nandan Nilekani’s entrepreneurial spirit to build a revenue model in a project that was originally believed would only add to the government’s budget.

The co-founder of Infosys Technologies has weaved in annual revenues of Rs 288 crore in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), of which he is chairman — money that will part-offset project costs estimated at Rs 3,000 crore, and make it self-sustainable.

The unique identification number will authenticate an individual to private companies and public sector entities for a small transaction fee. The UIDAI proposes to charge user companies Rs 5 to verify each address, and Rs 10 for every biometrics confirmation, once the system is fully in place.

The UIDAI may also explore the option of charging beneficiaries of the cards to offset enrolment costs. The Authority estimates it may cost Rs 20-25 to enroll each resident, adding up to Rs 3,000 crore.

Nilekani told The Indian Express that “by providing identity authentication, the UIDAI will be taking on a process that costs agencies and service providers hundreds of crores every year”.

“The Authority will charge a fee for its authentication services, which will offset its long-term costs. Registrars and service providers will also be able to charge for the cards they issue residents with the UID number,” Nilekani said.

A physical verification of an address and other information about an individual generally costs a company between Rs 100 and Rs 500. The basic identity confirmation will be provided free to firms, which would merely generate a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response to confirm the identity based on the UID number, name and an additional parameter. This service could potentially be of use to airlines to check in passengers.

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