Full-body passenger scanners at airports, a proposal which is under the consideration of Central security agencies, is likely to be a only secondary medium of checking and for those people with "suspicious identities".
The controversial security apparatus is capable of scanning through a person's clothes and has been introduced in certain western countries including the US.
Official sources said India had introduced such a device in 2007 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on a two-month trial basis.
"It was just a trial in 2007. It has been a long mooted proposal and is now under serious consideration after the North-Western airline incident," a government source said.
The full-body scanner can detect objects that can be hidden in one's undergarments like in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian passenger onboard a North-Western airline from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas who hid explosives in his underwear.
The concealed plastic explosives failed to detonate properly, resulting only in flames but the incident ignited the debate on installing the full-body scanners to prevent similar incidents in the future.
"The scanner will most likely only be a secondary check for suspicious passengers. Everybody would undergo regular checks and only on suspicion, they will undergo the full-body scanner," the source said.