New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS): The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Thursday said it has issued 56 crore Aadhaar numbers and is in the process of completing its mandate of covering 60 crore people by the end of the current fiscal.

"With generation of about 13-14 lakh Aadhaar numbers every day, the flagship programme appears all set to complete its mandate of covering 60 crore population in the next few weeks," UIDAI said in a statement.

According to UIDAI, currently more than three crore Aadhaar numbers are being generated per month and that with an increased capacity 15-16 lakh enrolment packets are being processed every day.

Since its establishment as an 'attached office' of the Planning Commission in 2009, UIDAI issued eight crore Aadhaar numbers till November 2011, another 15 crore in the next one year and a further 28 crore unique identity numbers in the past 12 months.

UIDAI has issued 25 crore Aadhaar numbers in the period up to December 2012 at an average rate of almost one crore per month. During 2013, UIDAI issued a total of 29.1 crore numbers at an average rate of over 2.4 crore Aadhaars per month.

Currently the Aadhaar number, which is entirely voluntary, is used as proof of identity, residence for several programs and schemes run by the central and state governments.

The identity number has also led to financial inclusion as various financial regulatory institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) validating the unique number as a customer data base.