Infosys Founder to Create India ID Database

NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday appointed outsourcing guru Nandan Nilekani to head a new agency tasked with creating a national identification database for the country's 1.2 billion citizens, an effort designed to document Indians so they can participate more fully in the country's economic growth.

In a rare leap from India's business circles to its political halls, Mr. Nilekani, who grew to fame after co-founding Infosys Technologies Ltd., India's second-largest technology company by sales, will become head of the Unique Identification Authority of India. He will join the government at cabinet level after leaving his post as co-chairman of Infosys on July 9.

A major promise of the Congress-led coalition that won election last month, a single national ID would aim to ensure the efficient delivery of public services, allow each Indian to receive much-needed identification for services such as bank accounts, and let the government filter out illegal immigrants more easily. The government created the national ID agency in February, allocating it an initial $20 million

The appointment of the 54-year-old Mr. Nilekani is a rare instance of an Indian government reaching beyond its political ranks to fill a top post. If he is successful, it could pave the way for further involvement of performance-oriented businessmen in politics, upending a long tradition where business and political figures frequently have mingled but rarely jumped sides.

Mr. Nilekani didn't respond to requests to comment.

But the scope of the project that now looms in front of Mr. Nilekani is gigantic. The rollout of the identity program will take several years, with an early goal expected to be 100 million cards within the next three years. The technological challenges are among the largest any Indian government project has faced.

But the benefits from a national ID could be far-reaching. There is vast leakage from India's public-distribution systems for food for the poor. For workers, it could allow portability of health insurance and pension accounts between employers, said Manish Sabharwal, chairman of TeamLease Services Pvt. Ltd., a Bangalore-based temporary-staffing company. It would help verify diplomas and certificates offered by job applicants, he said.

A national ID would be "nothing less than revolutionary," Mr. Nilekani said in a book he wrote last year. "No one else can claim a benefit that is rightfully yours, and no one else can deny their economic status."