New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) The cabinet Friday approved the creation of the National Population Register (NPR) that will complement the issue of identity cards to every resident of the country.

'The project would cover an estimated population of 1.2 billion and the total cost of the scheme is Rs.3,539.24 crores,' Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

She said the creation of a digital database with identity details of all individuals along with their photographs and finger biometrics 'will result in the creation of a biometrics based identity system in the country'.

Such a database 'will enhance the efficacy of providing services to the residents under government schemes and programmes, improve the security scenario and check identity frauds in the country'.

Data for the NPR will be collected along with the house listing and housing census starting in April and will be completed by September.

'Once finalised, the NPR database will be sent to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for biometric de-duplication and assigning of a unique identification number. This UID number will be added to the NPR database,' Soni said.