Morpho-Mahindra Satyam is keen to boost India presence to match rapid evolution of post UID biometric market..We have also built strengths in the smart card business which has been established through a subsidiary in Noida.
NAGARA GOPAL
Making a unique impression.
Morpho-Mahindra Satyam consortium was among three agencies selected by the Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI earlier this year to implement the core biometric identification systems for `Aadhaar' project. The mandate for the three selected biometric vendors entails supply, installation and maintenance and support of automatic biometric identification subsystems and software development kit for client enrolment station, verification server, manual adjudication and monitoring the function of UID application. eWorld caught up with the Morpho Chairman and CEO, Jean-Paul Jainsky, to find out more about the company's India business strategy. Excerpts:
How does Morpho view the India market opportunity?
At what pace is your business growing in India vis-…-vis other markets such as the US and Europe?
The Indian market is one of the largest in the world and is growing exponentially. Keeping this in mind we have a strong focus in India to build a market that is sustained over a long period of time. We already have leveraged opportunities in biometric solutions and devices in India and have also built strengths in the smartcard business which has been established through a subsidiary in Noida. The smart card operation currently manufactures 1 million cards per day.
With the latest acquisition of General Electric's Explosive Detection product line, Morpho has been able to scale up its offerings in India. We are now able to provide full baggage screening solutions for cargo luggage which is currently being used at the world class T3 Terminal at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Our handheld explosive detectors are also used by the Police Forces for the Commonwealth Games security.
Besides UIDAI's biometric solutions project, which are the other projects in India market that you are keen to participate in, specially with regard to State/ Central Government or public sector contracts?
Partnering with Mahindra Satyam, Morpho has had the opportunity to be part of the UID project which is a major technological challenge since very few companies in the world are capable of successfully implementing such a large database.
Beyond this project, Morpho in India has already participated in the pilot ID card program supplying Bharat Electronics Ltd, with the hardware and software needed to capture biometric data. We are also involved in many social schemes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), Rashtriya Swastya Bima Yojna, Public Distribution System, Employee State Insurance Corporation and Multipurpose National Identity Card.
In September, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, handed out the first set of UIDs to residents of Tembhli village in Nandurbar district. Could you elaborate on Morpho's role in the rollout of the first set of numbers?
It is the combination of Mahindra Satyam's domain expertise and Morpho's technology which has played a decisive role in the successful testing and issuance of the first UID number which was delivered on September 29 in Maharashtra. Among the three consortia shortlisted for the entire project, the Mahindra Satyam- Morpho combine was selected by UID for the critical, initial de-duplication process that led to the issuance of the first Aadhaar numbers.
As mentioned, the current UID contract has been awarded to three consortia. The contract which is for a period of two years involves the de-duplication of data for a population of 20 crore. The contract is based on a service level agreement wherein the data of the said population will be shared by the three consortia according to their performance. This means, the better the performance, more data you receive for de duplication.
Could you give us a sense of Morpho's operations in India from a market as well as R&D perspective?
Nearly 20 per cent of Morpho's global workforce is in India, with over 1,000 employees in New Delhi, Noida and Bangalore. Morpho has an office in New Delhi, subsidiaries in Noida with a factory producing one million smart cards per day and another subsidiary, Morpho Detection in Bangalore. We are increasing our existing presence in India to match the rapid evolution of the post UID biometric market. This includes bringing in a broad spectrum of expertise ranging from sales and marketing to Research and Development.
moumita@thehindu.co.in
How does Morpho view the India market opportunity?
At what pace is your business growing in India vis-…-vis other markets such as the US and Europe?
Jean-Paul Jainsky
With the latest acquisition of General Electric's Explosive Detection product line, Morpho has been able to scale up its offerings in India. We are now able to provide full baggage screening solutions for cargo luggage which is currently being used at the world class T3 Terminal at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Our handheld explosive detectors are also used by the Police Forces for the Commonwealth Games security.
Besides UIDAI's biometric solutions project, which are the other projects in India market that you are keen to participate in, specially with regard to State/ Central Government or public sector contracts?
Partnering with Mahindra Satyam, Morpho has had the opportunity to be part of the UID project which is a major technological challenge since very few companies in the world are capable of successfully implementing such a large database.
Beyond this project, Morpho in India has already participated in the pilot ID card program supplying Bharat Electronics Ltd, with the hardware and software needed to capture biometric data. We are also involved in many social schemes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), Rashtriya Swastya Bima Yojna, Public Distribution System, Employee State Insurance Corporation and Multipurpose National Identity Card.
In September, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, handed out the first set of UIDs to residents of Tembhli village in Nandurbar district. Could you elaborate on Morpho's role in the rollout of the first set of numbers?
It is the combination of Mahindra Satyam's domain expertise and Morpho's technology which has played a decisive role in the successful testing and issuance of the first UID number which was delivered on September 29 in Maharashtra. Among the three consortia shortlisted for the entire project, the Mahindra Satyam- Morpho combine was selected by UID for the critical, initial de-duplication process that led to the issuance of the first Aadhaar numbers.
As mentioned, the current UID contract has been awarded to three consortia. The contract which is for a period of two years involves the de-duplication of data for a population of 20 crore. The contract is based on a service level agreement wherein the data of the said population will be shared by the three consortia according to their performance. This means, the better the performance, more data you receive for de duplication.
Could you give us a sense of Morpho's operations in India from a market as well as R&D perspective?
Nearly 20 per cent of Morpho's global workforce is in India, with over 1,000 employees in New Delhi, Noida and Bangalore. Morpho has an office in New Delhi, subsidiaries in Noida with a factory producing one million smart cards per day and another subsidiary, Morpho Detection in Bangalore. We are increasing our existing presence in India to match the rapid evolution of the post UID biometric market. This includes bringing in a broad spectrum of expertise ranging from sales and marketing to Research and Development.
moumita@thehindu.co.in
