INDIA'S NEW ID SYSTEM TO ROPE IN BANKS FOR 'FINANCIAL INCLUSION'

The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) will rope in local banks to further financial inclusion in the country, bankers said last week after a meeting with UIDAI chairman and ex-Infosys chief, Nandan Nilekani.

Nilekani made a presentation to the bankers about his project which showed how synergies with banks can help achieve financial inclusion.

Bank chiefs from across the spectrum such as the State Bank of India's (BSE:500112) chairman O.P Bhatt, ICICI Bank (BSE:532174) CEO Chanda Kochhar, HDFC Bank (BSE:500180) managing director Aditya Puri and Standard Chartered's Neeraj Swaroop, among others were present, besides senior Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials and Union Secretary for Financial Services, R. Gopalan.

HDFC Bank managing director Aditya Puri said details regarding forging partnerships between UIDAI and banks to further financial inclusion were among the points discussed at the meeting held at the RBI headquarters here.

"UIDAI will make it easier (for banks) to go into the interiors and a timeline for it will be worked out mutually," Puri said.

"Nandan Nilekani made a presentation to us ... we discussed along with serving the excluded people, how can we make good business," Indian Overseas Bank (BSE:532388) chairman and managing director S.A Bhat said.

Under the UIDAI, every resident of India will be given an identity, which according to experts will help people in the rural areas, as the unique authentication number will bring them into the system.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in a budget speech had set banks a target of taking financial services to 60,000 villages with a population of over 2,000 people.