HCL Infosystem BagsRs 2200 Cr UID Contract

After a delay of over 12 months, the Unique ID Authority on Friday finally awarded the managed service provider contract to Noida-based IT hardware and system integration firm HCL Infosystems.

The IT firm will manage the IT infrastructure which will contain data records of 1.2 billion Indian residents, and issue UID numbers. It will be the largest project of its kind in the world.

The letter of intent was awarded by UIDAI earlier this year, but it finally signed the contract with HCL Info on August 7, after negotiations.

According to sources, HCL Infosystems had bid about Rs 2200 crore for the MSP contract, beating TCS, Accenture, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and others who were in the race since beginning.IBM and HP had backed out of the race.

As per the contract HCL Infosystems has been awarded the Managed Service Provider (MSP) to implement and manage the Central ID Repository (CIDR) for UIDAI. The contract is for a period of seven years.

The entire end-to-end technology infrastructure of the UIDAI will be managed by HCL Infosystems.

As the MSP, HCL Infosystems will be responsible for procurement and installation of the IT infrastructure, implementation of information security management systems and operations support and maintenance. The scope of work also includes technical helpdesk, support services and database administration.

APS Bedi, EVP, HCL Infosystems said, “As the MSP for the project we are committed to meand deliver our defined scope of work which broadly covers the implementation and the management of the Central ID Repository for UIDAI. We would like to thank UIDAI for giving us this opportunity to be part of this huge nation building project.”