Driven by factors such as huge appeal for banking and retail applications and large-scale penetration of Internet and e-commerce, India's smart card market is set to touch $21.7 million by 2005, according to international consultant Frost and Sullivan.
"The smart card market is projected to hit $21.7 million by 2005. Currently the Indian smart card market is used in applications in telecom, banking, transportation and healthcare.
"Other applications such as university and electronic access control systems are gaining acceptance," Gaurav Dua, industry analyst - IT practice, Frost and Sullivan said in New Delhi.
Identifying key drivers for smart card market growth in India, Dua said these would include factors such as increasing use in mobile phones as SIM cards, attraction of players to the potential market size, lack of proper national identification scheme and huge appeal for banking and retail application.
"Other factors like increasing pilot projects by state government and penetration of Internet and e-commerce in large and medium sized cities would also fuel the growth," he said.
Dua, however, cautioned that low purchasing power, low technology awareness and cultural shifts, delay in approval standards and poor infrastructure would pose major hurdles for the smart card market in the country.