NSDL forms new unit for e-governance projects

MUMBAI, INDIA: Mumbai, In order to take up more e-governance projects, National Depository Services (NSDL), a depository and database management company has formed an associate company.

The associate company has been named as "NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure'. NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure will manage Tax Information Network and Central Record keeping Agency for National Pension Scheme, which was previously directly handled by NSDL.

The promoters of NSDL (which include IDBI Bank, National Stock Exchange of India and administrator of the specified undertaking of the Unit Trust of India) will promote the new associate company as well.

State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Deutsche Bank, Axis Bank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank of India, Dena Bank and Canara Bank are the shareholders of NSDL.

After the incorporation of NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure, now there are three companies under NSDL wings - NSDL being the parent company and NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure as an associate company and another subsidiary NSDL Database Management (NDML).

NDML, which handles national skills registry for NASSCOM and SEZ Online as a part of the e-governance initiative of ministry of commerce to automate SEZ transactions was incorporated in 2004. "NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure was incorporated a month back, as an associate company of NSDL," said one of the directors of NSDL, quoted a Financial Chronicle report.

NSDL will now be used by the government agencies to roll out e-governance projects of huge size and scale such as digitisation of the land records, university certificates to get rid of corruption in the system.

Shailesh Haribhakti, chairman, BDO Consulting, who is also on the board of NSDL said, "NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure will take the task of dematerialisation of various assets."