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TCS inks deal with MEA to expedite passport processing
The country's largest software exporter TCS has signed a deal with the External Affairs Ministry for a project worth little over Rs 1,000 crore to ensure citizens get their travel documents in three days. A six-year contract, TCS will set up 72 centres to accept passport applications and issue them.
Here is a verbatim transcript of Swati Khandelwal's comments on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.
The country's largest software exporter TCS has signed a deal with the External Affairs Ministry for a project worth little over Rs 1,000 crore to ensure citizens get their travel documents in three days. A six-year contract, TCS will set up 72 centres to accept passport applications and issue them.
S Ramadorai, CEO, TCS says, "The project will be on a buy-own-operate-transfer basis with pilot operations expected to start within 19 months. The company will set up two pilot Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), one in Bangalore and another in Chandigarh by March next year. From the current 37, 77 PSKs will be set up across the country and the government claims it will take just three days to issue passports in normal conditions post-police verification and Tatkal passports in a single day by January 2010. Thetotal number of public dealing counters at these outlets will go up from the existing 345 to 1,250.
The time duration to submit a passport application would be cut down to 45 minutes in "comfortable and decent conditions".
In return for better services, the private service provider will charge a fee of about Rs 200 for each transaction. The sovereign and fiduciary function of granting and issuing passport remains with the Ministry while TCS will be the technology and operations partner. In 2007 alone, the Ministry issued about 50 lakh passports while the figures for 2005 was 35 lakh and for 2006 it was 20 lakh.
The country's largest software exporter TCS has signed a deal with the External Affairs Ministry for a project worth little over Rs 1,000 crore to ensure citizens get their travel documents in three days. A six-year contract, TCS will set up 72 centres to accept passport applications and issue them. 
