New Delhi: Launching the ‘fast track immigration-trusted traveller programme’ (FTI-TTP), which enables faster immigration of pre-verified flyers through automated e-gates, at five more international airports in the country, home minister Amit Shah on Thursday suggested that its coverage be maximised by enabling resident Indians and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) to sign up for FTI-TTP at the state of issuing of passports or OCI cards itself.With the inclusion of Lucknow, Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli and Kozhikode international airports, the number of airports covered under the programme has risen to 13. First launched at the Delhi international airport in June 2022, the programme added seven more airports – covering Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Ahmedabad – in Jan this year. Shah said the facility will be available at the upcoming Navi Mumbai and Jewar airports as well.Addressing the FTI-TTP inauguration event at the five airports through video-conference, the home minister said around 3 lakh persons had registered under the programme and over 2.6 lakh travellers, both inbound and outbound, had availed of it, enabling them to clear immigration in 30 seconds, with no long queues or manual checks. “The next phase of the effort to enhance passenger convenience by integrating PM Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘speed, scale, and scope’ into the FTI-TTP is starting from today,” he said, adding the programme also introduces foreign travellers to the positive changes taking place in India. Drawing attention to the 60% increase in international passenger traffic over the past 11 years of the Modi govt – from 5 crore in 2014 to 8.1 crore in 2024 – the home minister said the figure of 2.6 lakh who have availed of the FTI-TTP facility is too small, leaving tremendous scope to maximise its coverage. Shah said everyone who has availed of the programme has voiced appreciation. “Our goal should be to ensure that every Indian citizen and every OCI cardholder takes advantage of this facility,” he added. “To achieve this, I request that when issuing passports and OCI cards, we can also conduct this registration (under FTI-TTP), so that people don’t have to come twice for fingerprinting or document verification. Whenever they travel, they can simply use their passport. I think we must further explore the technological possibilities to maximize the number of people who can take advantage of this programme.”
