L-1 wins US$24.5 million purchase orders

L-1 Identity Solutions has received US$24.5 million in purchase orders for finger and iris biometric capture devices for the initial phase of India’s Unique Identification Number (UID) programme, or AADHAAR. The orders include both Agile TP fingerprint slap devices and Mobile-Eyes iris cameras, both of which have been certified for the UID programme by the Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate for the Government of India’s Department of Information Technology (DIT).

Some units have already shipped and the remainder is expected to ship by March 2011. The orders were received from multiple sources participating in the UID programme and L-1 says it expects to continue to receive additional orders for more units throughout the programme’s five-year enrolment cycle.

L-1 has also confirmed that it has established a manufacturing facility in India, through a contract manufacturing partner, that will begin producing devices for this programme in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The UID programme seeks to gather basic demographic and biometric (iris and finger) information from an estimated 1.2 billion residents in India to establish the uniqueness of individuals in order to issue them 12-digit identification numbers that will serve as verification of identity anywhere in the country. The UID can be used for access to goods and services such as food, education, telecom, medical care, banking and financial services.