India’s NIC Creates Blockchain Vertical, Claims 79 Million Government Documents are Stored On Blockchain Platforms

India is embracing blockchain technology in governance on a growing scale. In the latest move, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has created a Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology (CoE-BCT). It has also set up a new website, Government for Blockchain, which is fully dedicated to government projects involving blockchain technology. 

The CoE-BCT has onboarded nine states and central organizations and 19 government departments. It offers five product categories for immutable government and private data storage: Certificate Chain, Document Chain, Drug Logistics Chain, Judiciary Chain, and Property Chain.

As per the new website, 79.39 million documents were stored on different government-owned blockchain platforms. Of these, 19.38 million are property documents, while 17.14 million are from the Central Board of School Examination (CBSE). 

Indian government’s cautious approach to cryptocurrency is well known, and it is reflected in prohibitively high taxes for the sector. However, the government has maintained a positive view towards blockchain technology. India faces the unsurmountable task of maintaining records of its vast population and activities, such as property records and educational certificates. 

“NIC wants to promote the use of blockchain technologies, facilitate the rapid adaptation and onboarding of blockchain-based solutions, foster stronger collaboration between the government, public and private sectors, and cooperate to ensure that the latest technological standards are made available in a safe and trusted manner,” the About Us page of Blockchain for Government website states. 

In December 2021, MeitY released the National Strategy on Blockchain, which encapsulates the Indian government’s vision to adopt blockchain technology in various sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, finance, e-governance, and voting. The vision document hopes India can offer blockchain technology solutions incorporating the Internet of Things, cloud, and artificial intelligence called BICA Stack, which will be available globally by 2027. 

Earlier, ZyCrypto reported that district police of India’s Firozabad launched a blockchain-based complaint registration portal, designed by a private company using Polygon’s modular blockchain solutions. 

“The benefit of using Blockchain is that the complaints registered on it can’t be tampered with as data recorded is immutable and transparent,” Ashish Tiwari, who belongs to the elite Indian Police Service (IPS), said in a tweet.