India's government has scrapped a proposal that would have required Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Aadhaar — the country's biometric identification app, linked to the fingerprints and iris scans of nearly 1.34 billion residents — on all devices sold in the country. The IT ministry, which reviewed the plan following consultations with the electronics industry, offered no official explanation for the reversal, though manufacturers had raised objections over device security, software compatibility, and the added cost of maintaining separate production lines for the Indian market. The decision marks the sixth consecutive failed attempt in two years by the Indian government to mandate pre-installation of state apps on smartphones, highlighting the limits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's digital agenda as India simultaneously courts global tech firms to expand domestic manufacturing.