New Delhi: Taking forward India’s offer for a grant to the former Rajapaksa regime to fund an Aadhaar-like identity verification system for its citizens, Sri Lanka has entered into an agreement with the Narendra Modi government to start work “on basic level issues” on the project from January.According to a December 17 report in Sunday Observer, the agreement was reached “during a discussion held last week between Indian Government representatives and the (Sri Lankan) President’s Chief of Staff and (its) National Security Adviser Sagala Ratnayaka.”The report said that the new digital ID card to be funded by India would cost Rs 400 crore, and would include biometric data, such as the holder’s eye colour, fingerprints, and blood type.“Earlier, 76 biometrics were needed for digital IDs, but the updated version will need only six.”“The (Sri Lankan ) Government aims to first issue the updated digital ID card for new applicants and then gradually introduce it to the entire population,” the report said.In February 2022, the Modi government had offered to provide a grant to the Rajapaksa government to implement “a Unitary Digital Identity Framework”, apparently modeled on India’s Aadhaar cards.According to a Sri Lankan government’s statement then, its cabinet had approved the idea which was expected to introduce a personal identity verification device based on biometrics.In March that year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries to carry it forward.A Financial Times report in December 2022 had said that the Indo-Sri Lankan Joint Project Monitoring Committee, formed to look into the venture, had decided to start the process “right away” after a meeting was held between the Sri Lankan technology minister and Indian high commissioner Gopal Baglay.Last week’s decision to unroll the process at the “basic level” has come as one of the last assignments of Baglay as his ambassadorial term in Sri Lanka ended on December 15.Though the 2022 news report had said that India had pledged Rs 300 crore to the project, the latest Sunday Observer report said the grant is now Rs 400 crore.