India Funds Sri Lanka’s Digital Identity Project With Rs 450 Million

India has given a major boost to Sri Lanka’s digitalisation programme by handing over Rs 450 million in advance to fund its unique digital identity project. The project, which is being implemented through the Indian grant assistance, aims to create a secure and reliable system of issuing identification cards to the citizens of the island nation.

The fund transfer took place on Friday at the Presidential Secretariat, where key stakeholders of the project held extensive discussions on its execution. The Indian High Commissioner, Gopal Bagley, presented a cheque of Rs 450 million to the State Minister of Technology, Kanaka Herath, in the presence of the Presidential Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff, Sagala Ratnayaka.

The amount constitutes 15 percent of the total funds required for the successful implementation of the project, which is expected to cost around Rs 800 crore.

The project will involve the collection of biographic and biometric information, including facial, iris, and fingerprint data, which will be stored in a centralized system. The identification cards will be issued as per the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The project is expected to have multiple benefits for Sri Lanka, such as more effective and efficient delivery of government services, poverty reduction and welfare programs, financial inclusion through better access to banking and other products/services, and enhanced security and transparency.

The project was initiated with the signing of a MoU between Sri Lanka and India in March 2022 and an Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Project Monitoring Committee (JPMC) for the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity Project (SL-UDI) was established.

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