The finance ministry is fully committed to the expeditious implementation of the UID project and all funds required for its smooth rollout by UID Authority of India will be provided, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee clarified on Monday.

The clarification came after a section of media reported that the government had decided to slash the budget for the project from Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 3,000 crore.

The UIDAI also issued a clarification stating that the allocation of Rs 3,000 crore was in no way a cut down on the proposal.

A UIDAI release stated that in Phase I, it was provided funds for establishing the Authority and for conducting Proof of Concept (PoC) studies. The present allocation is essentially for Phase II where funds are being sought for commencing the pilot studies and rolling out 10 crore UID numbers by March 2011.

The budget for issuing the rest of the UID numbers and related project components will be brought before the government as part of Phase III in due course.

The Authority clarified that all funds required for the smooth rollout of the project are being provided. UID activities are being carried out as per plan and are not adversely affected for want of budgetary resources.