The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is seeking to cover 40 crore population of the country under the 'Aadhaar' project by March 2013 and has set a target of providing cards to the entire Andhra Pradesh by the same period, a senior official said here today.

The authority has completed enrolment of 21 crore people so far in the country and seeks to cover another 20 crore by March 2013.

It intends to provide 'Aadhaar' cards to everyone in Andhra Pradesh by the same time, UIDAI AP-regional office deputy director general Rami Reddy told reporters.

Andhra Pradesh is the leading enroller in 'Aadhaar' cards constituting 25 per cent of the total 21 crore enrolments in the country.

So far, 5.6 crore people out of the 8.6 crore population in Andhra Pradesh have enrolled for the project and 4.8 crore 'Aadhaar' cards have been issued, Reddy said.

"We have now set a target to cover entire Andhra Pradesh population by March 2013," he added.

Andhra Pradesh has on a pilot basis adopted the 'Aadhaar' cards for unique identity in public distribution system (PDS) in East Godavari and Hyderabad districts.

It has helped in saving 20 per cent ration in rural areas and 30 per cent in urban regions every month, the UIDAI official pointed out.

"The Aadhaar-Civil Supplies link will be scaled up gradually to cover all the districts in the state which will optimise distribution of benefits and subsidies to actual beneficiaries," Reddy said.

This will save several crores and the amount can be used for developmental projects, he said.

"The UIDAI identity can be expanded by linking it with various other sections and which will help in improving service delivery in government welfare schemes," Reddy added.