In India, a country with a population of 1.2bn, fewer than 30 per cent of citizens have a passport, driver’s licence or other form of identification.

It may seem a minor point, except that the absence of these documents makes it difficult to apply for a bank account, obtain a mobile phone or even receive the government subsidies for education and food that individuals are entitled to.

But according to a new survey led by Arun Sundararajan, an associate professor of information, operations and management sciences at New York University’s Stern School of Business and a group of his students, that is changing. A government-sponsored project that began towards the end of 2010 to give every person in India a unique 12-digit ID number is showing signs of success. If enrolment continues according to projections, Prof Sundararajan reckons that about 300m citizens who previously did not have a portable ID will have one by the end of the year.