‘Could have been built for $20 million...’: Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia says $1.3 billion wasted on Aadhaar

The Hotmail co-founder, Sabeer Bhatia, called Aadhaar an expensive misstep, claiming that the unique identity project, which reportedly cost $1.3 billion, could have been built for just $20 million. He made this remark during his recent appearance on Prakhar Ke Pravachan, a podcast hosted by Prakhar Gupta.  

Bhatia criticized Aadhaar’s reliance on biometric data, suggesting that the project overlooked simpler, more efficient technological solutions. “Aadhaar took all of your biometrics, but where is that being used?” he asked. According to him, a video and voice print technology, which every smartphone already supports, would have been a more innovative approach at a fraction of the cost. “You can build it under $20 million bucks,” he said.  

He questioned the technical expertise behind Aadhaar, stating, “Whoever did this is not a technologist. They don’t know technology; they have never coded in their life — that’s why this problem exists. I know, I have built stuff with my own hands. I know what technology should be used for, what purpose, and what innovation should be.”  

Bhatia elaborated on his idea of using voice and video prints as unique identifiers. “Our voices are unique, our videos are unique,” he explained. "The voice print stored in a database would be a unique identifier. At the airport, the moment somebody walks in, you wouldn’t need to show a card. The system would recognize you and say, ‘Welcome Mr. Prakhar, you’ve already been verified.’ That’s technology, and it can be built inexpensively.” 

During the podcast, Gupta also asked Bhatia for his take on UPI and how it might inspire similar systems abroad. Bhatia dismissed UPI as “nothing more than Venmo”, pointing out its basic functionality compared to existing global payment platforms.