Fortune 500 companies and leading players in the technology segment Google, Yahoo, Intel, Microsoft, IBM and Cisco, are keen to be involved in India's multi-billion dollar Unique Identification (UID) project.

Former Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, who heads the approximately Rs15,000-Rs20,000 crore UID project, will be the most sought after individual in India by all these US-based technology companies, which reported individual 2008 revenues above $30 billion except Yahoo with $7 billion.

Already top heads of most of these companies are prowling the corridors of power to convince the powers that their companies  have the requisite technology and expertise to allot a unique identification number, akin to the US Social Security number, to each of India's 1.3 billion citizens.

Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates has already said that his company is keen to participate in the project as Microsoft is in a position to assign the IDs swiftly and had met Nilekani, when he come down to India for the 5th anniversary celebration of Microsoft Research, India and to receive the Indira Gandhi peace prize in July.

Currently, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is in India and has already met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nilekani to lobby for the UID project. Yahoo says that since three out of four Indians nternet users access the net through Yahoo, her company is the ideal choice since becaue of its large presence in India.

However, Yahoo says that it has no commercial interest in the project, which ought to leave Yahoo's co-founder and ex CEO Jerry Yang wondering where he went wrong that Yahoo shareholders wanted him out.

Coming to the networking gear giant and acquisition specialist, Cisco Systems, which in the recent past has made a foray into the data centre business, also wants a pie of the UID project.

Cisco's chief technology officer Padmasree Warrior, who was previously Motorola's first female CTO, is also in India currently and has met up with Nilekani.

Warrior, who missed out in joining US President Barack Obama's team in the newly created post of US CTO, which ultimately went to Vivek Kundra, said yesterday that Cisco, using its telepresence technologies, wants to look at the healthcare and education markets and take services into remote areas.

Google India MD Shailesh Rao told reporters in New Delhi that Google would be happy to help in the UID project. But Google, considered as a very aggressive company, is adopting the 'wait and watch approach, ' having gone on record saying thatit would be happy to asociate itself, if invited to participate in the project.

Rao said that Google has not approached the Indian government but would be glad if the government invited it to participate in the project.

Other technology giants, Intel and IBM have yet to send in their lobbyists to India.

The 15-digit Unique Identification Number project is an ambitious project being undertaken by the Indian government, where every Indian citizen will be allotted a unique identification number.

The UID will do away with the multiple proof of identity for citizens like passport, driving licence, ration card etc required for opening bank accounts, applying for a passport, government or private sector job and the like.