Finmin says no cut in budget for UID project

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday said that it will provide all funds necessary for implementation of the unique identification number project. “The ministry of finance is fully committed to expeditious implementation of the UID project and all funds required for the smooth rollout of the project by the UID Authority will be provided ,” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement.

The finance ministry dismissed reports that it had slashed the budget for the UID Project from estimated Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 3,000 crore. “This is not the correct position ,” the statement said.

The Centre had proposed a nearly 16-fold hike in its annual budget to Rs 1,900 crore for the UIDAI. Of this Rs 1,300 crore will be used for enabling the registrars while the remaining will go towards the setting up of the IT infrastructure.