US NRI's get your PAN number

This is just an informational post, i did not find any information for this process on the net and thought i would write down my experience for anyone who could use it.
Me and my colleagues/friends who came to the US are finally at a point where we could invest in long term investments for out futures. What better place to invest in India where the SENSEX has risen 42% over the last year and will keep climbing steadily with a GDP growth projected close to double digits. Add to this, the two Ambani brothers duking it out for market supremacy, the Birlas looking to make a strong comeback, Maruti possibly going public soon, TATA about to start a new project to build the cheapest car in India, any one would want to jump on that gravy train before it leaves the station.
The Indian government has decreed that anyone wanting to deal in shares and/or mutual funds in India are required to have a PAN number assigned to them. Indian shares are no longer issued in the old paper format and are held in online accounts called DeMat accounts. All the big banks in India and stock brokerages offer DeMat accounts. The problem for NRI's in the US like me is that PAN numbers were introduced in India in 1999. They were made mandatory after the year 2000. Anyone who paid Income taxes in India after those years were automatically assigned PAN numbers. Then came PAN cards. These are like the state-Ids issued in the US with a persons picture and signature on them. SEBI rules in India have now made it mandatory for Banks to request for this PAN card from their clients to open a DeMat account. This is all very annoying for an NRI who gets to go to India for around 2-3 weeks. The Govt. of India has outsourced the process of issuing new PAN numbers to UTI and NSDL (tin.nsdl.com). They take about 2-3 weeks to issue you a new PAN in India, if you are lucky and if you grease enough palms.
I was plenty frustrated by the incompetent clerks in the UTI offices when i visited India in December. Upon return to the US, i kept investigating how i could file for a PAN online. There has to be at least one government related company in India that exists in the 21st Century. I found it. Here is the process to file for a new PAN.
1. Contact someone in India, a relative or a friend who you can assign as a Representative and who can do a couple of tasks for you.
2. This person will have to get a DD for Rs. 67 drawn on a bank in India payable in Mumbai. The DD number has to be conveyed to you, this number has to be filled in on the form.
3. The website mentions that you can pay via Credit card but in an extremely convoluted logic, NRIs cannot pay via credit card, only resident Indians can.
4. Go to the NSDL website and get to the Online PAN Application.
5. They have a long list of instructions for this form but mostly the information required is straightforward.
6. Fill in the name and address of your Representative in this form. This will provide NSDL with an Indian contact to send your PAN card to, and contact if they have any questions about your application.
7. Fill in your DD information on this application. They do not have a 'Save and return' function so you should be equipped with all information before hand.
8. Submit the form, it prints you an acknowledgement form with your application number. This form also has room to affix a photo and sign.
9. you will require photocopies of your passport for proof of identity and copies of Bank Statements for proof of Residence.
10. They have plenty of Instructions about where to list your application number on your various documents including the DD.
11. Send all your documents to your representative in India, (be careful not to send this via regular mail, there is a strong possibility of someone stealing your identity).
12. Your representative can send the packet in the format required by NSDL to their offices in Mumbai.

NSDL has promised to email my PAN number to me within 10 days of receiving my packet and send my PAN Card to my Representative within 15-20 days.

This is quite the hassle for something that the govt could have used SSNs for US NRI's. but who is gonna argue with PC and PM.