Bhubaneswar: Security and safety of Indian citizens has been enhanced by the issuance of e passports. The Indian e-passports are a great combination of electronic passport technology with conventional paper passports. The e-Passport is a combined paper and electronic passport, with an embedded Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip and antenna embedded as an inlay. The main benefit of the e-Passport is its enhanced ability to maintain the integrity of its data. Since the e-Passport has the data in printed form on the booklet, as well as encrypted in the chip, it makes it harder to forge. The launch of e-Passport has commenced as a pilot project along with the rollout of the Passport Seva Program (PSP) Version 2.0 on April 1, 2024. Currently, Regional Passport Offices at Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Jammu, Goa, Shimla, Raipur, Amritsar, Jaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Surat, Ranchi are issuing e-Passports to Indian citizens. More passport offices will be issuing e-passports to Indian citizens. The issuance of e-Passport in Tamil Nadu has commenced on 03 March 2025 at Regional Passport Office, Chennai and as on 22nd March 2025, a total of 20,729 e-Passports have been issued within Tamil Nadu. e-Passport would facilitate the ease of travel for Indian citizens by enabling automated identity verification processes and making their interface with immigration authorities easier.
India rolls out e passports for its citizens
