India hosts 8M gov’t docs across 5 blockchains

Nearly eight million government-issued verifiable documents are currently hosted across five blockchains owned and operated by India’s National Informatics Centre (NIC), a government agency. 

The NIC, which operates under India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, launched a new website showcasing its various blockchain initiatives. According to the information provided, 7.93 million documents — including but not limited to education, property, judiciary and drug logistics — are currently hosted on the blockchain.

India primarily uses three blockchain platforms to develop the products: Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Sawtooth and Ethereum. The five blockchain products currently used in India are certificate chain, document chain, drug logistics chain, judiciary chain and property chain, as shown below.

The documents come from six states and three government departments, which include the Central Board of Secondary Education, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.

The departments using blockchain technology have enabled verification services around property ownership, birth and death certificates, and a supply chain management system for medicines and educational certificates.

India is also working on proof-of-concept blockchains dedicated to land records, blood banks, backtracking goods and services tax and a public distribution ystem. In 2023, Hindustan Petroleum, one of India’s largest oil and gas companies, partnered with the blockchain software firm Zupple Labs to integrate its blockchain-based digital credentialing technology into the purchase order system.

India’s motive behind blockchain implementations is to counter the country’s long-standing problem with document forgery. By using blockchain, the Indian government digitally issues verifiable and immutable certificates that cannot be altered or misused by bad actors.

Despite the reluctance to legitimize cryptocurrencies fully, India has generally accepted blockchain technology, and numerous state and local governments contribute to the nation’s blockchain adoption drive.