Date: 22/11/2010

e-Shakti cards in Bihar to use NXP ID chips

NXP Semiconductors N.V. has announced it is working with Glodyne Technoserve to provide citizens with ID cards as part of e-Shakti program in State of Bihar. E-shakti project is an initiative by the department of rural development for successful implementation of NREGA in the state so that cardholders can arrive at work and pay wages directly into their newly created bank accounts. Europe based NXP makes advanced smart ID chips and is the leading vendor in this market.

Ajesh Kapoor, Director, NXP Semiconductors, has said with approximately 100 million citizens, Bihar is the third most populated state in India, with 85 per cent of people living in rural areas. The e-Shakti scheme is a groundbreaking project that ties in closely to the Indian Central Government's desire to promote financial inclusion for the entire population of India.

If Bihar population is alone in the range of 100 million, imagine cards for 1 billion+ population for the nation, it's a market of billions of $s for semiconductor chip and other electronics companies. This itself can motivate semiconductor industry in India to invest in a chip fab. If the procurer of ID systems is Government, it can give preferential access to semiconductor fab companies in India to serve this huge market. RFID chips require lot of security protocols giving opportunity for Indian semiconductor chip designers to develop IPs and protocols. Government and UIDAI can play important role in creating an opportunity for Indian electronics industry.
This is just one of the example of how big the India's semiconductor market is.