India’s Envoy Says Sri Lanka’s SLUDI Digital ID Is Ready to Launch

Sri Lanka’s national digital identity program has cleared its substantive hurdles and needs only a few procedural steps before a formal launch announcement, according to India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha.

Speaking in Colombo, Jha said the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SLUDI) project is “finally ready to move forward,” framing the initiative as far more than a technology platform: a nation-building effort with the potential to transform public services, social inclusion, and economic development. When every citizen holds a verified and trusted digital identity, he argued, social inclusion moves from policy objective to practical reality.

The envoy’s word carries unusual weight here because India is not a bystander. SLUDI is financed through an Indian grant and modeled on the Aadhaar-style foundational ID approach, with Indian firms shortlisted to build it and Infosys reported as the front-runner for the related e-NIC tender, making the High Commissioner one of the few officials positioned to speak to the project’s readiness on both sides. His remarks are the clearest signal yet that the long-gestating program is approaching its public debut, and they align with the timetable Sri Lankan officials have set out since the project entered its final stage with an end-of-2026 rollout confirmed.

Jha cast SLUDI as the foundational layer for Sri Lanka’s innovation economy, underpinning financial technology, e-commerce, and digital government services, and creating room for broader participation in the digital economy. He tied the argument to artificial intelligence, noting that AI is changing how businesses are built and scaled worldwide, that small teams can now compete with much larger organizations, and that no country or company can navigate the shift in isolation. India and Sri Lanka, he said, hold deep talent pools in emerging digital technologies and are well positioned to deepen cooperation on digital transformation and AI.

No launch date accompanied the remarks, and the remaining procedural steps were not specified. But for a project that has moved through years of planning, financing negotiations, and vendor selection, a readiness declaration from its principal funder marks a shift from preparation to expectation.

Sources: News 1st

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By Ji-seo Kim