New Delhi: India has issued over 80 lakh e-passports in the past six months since the nationwide rollout of chip-embedded travel documents, with Indian missions abroad issuing around 62,000 more, senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs said Tuesday.
Officials said that by May 2035, all passports held by Indian citizens will be electronic in nature, marking complete transition to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)-mandated format.
“Every citizen who is applying for a new passport or renewal will now receive an e-passport. Since 28 May 2025, all passports issued in India are e-passports,” an MEA official said.
The e-passport, part of the ministry’s flagship Passport Seva Programme (PSP) Version 2.0, has been fully rolled out across all regional passport offices and passport seva kendras nationwide.
“Each e-passport contains an RFID chip embedded in the last page, with a read-only memory that holds demographic data… The two systems have undergone composite certification as per international standards,” the official said.
Version 2.0 marks a significant upgrade from its predecessor. The latest passport system is fully integrated with the Aaadhar and DigiLocker databases.
While the earlier system only collected biometric data, the new programme compares live biometric data submitted by applicants with information already available in the system.
“It makes impersonation and fraud almost impossible,” the official said.
The new system has also reduced the documentation burden for citizens, officials said. On average, authorities now issue 50,000 passports daily, with processing times at counters reduced from around 45 minutes to approximately 30 minutes.
Addressing security concerns about the chip-embedded passports, officials clarified that the technology “activates only” at immigration counters, where the authorities have chip-readable machines, and it cannot be tracked remotely.
Data of individuals stored in the chips is entirely owned by MEA, which maintains it at three centres in Noida, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
Around 100 countries currently possess the capability to read e-passports. The ICAO has been encouraging nations to transition to electronic passports and has set a deadline of 2035 for adoption.
Officials clarified that all passports issued until mid-2035 will continue to be accepted at immigration counters worldwide. By May 2035, all passports held by Indians will likely be electronic in nature, but there is no requirement for “premature” replacement of existing valid passports.
Asked whether the security protocols embedded in the chip could last the full 10-year validity period of a standard adult passport, an official responded: “The chip technology is continuously evolving. We are already talking about how to upgrade the chip. We don’t think there will be any requirement to change a passport within the next ten years.”
The transition to e-passports has not resulted in increased costs for citizens as MEA bears the additional production expenses. But officials said that if the necessity arises, the ministry will put forth a proposal to raise fees accordingly.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)