Indian Government to Issue National Strategy on Blockchain Adoption

The Indian government is preparing a national blockchain strategy to support the adoption of the technology in the country, the India Times reported on 27 November.

According to the report, the country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has recognized the potential of blockchain technology, and the need for a shared infrastructure for different use cases.

The minister of state for electronics and IT, Sanjay Dhotre, further said that the government is also working on the “National Level Blockchain Framework”.

Dhotre addressed a number of questions regarding blockchain technology in a letter to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament.

In the letter he explained that blockchain is one of the important research areas, and that the technology has potential in sectors such as governance, banking, finance and cybersecurity, among others.

The letter further states that the Indian government is already working on a project that develops and researches blockchain technology and its use cases, the Distributed Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology.

The project has already helped institutions launch a system for property registration, develop proof-of-concept solutions for Clout Security Assurance, C-KYC and trade finance.

This is not the first time the Indian government has shown its pro-blockchain stance. The Southern Indian state of Telangana published a draft blockchain policy initiative earlier this year, which aimed to establish an ecosystem for blockchain startups and research institutes.

The initiative reportedly had a particular focus on projects working to develop blockchain applications for the banking sector, financial services and insurance, pharma and healthcare, logistics and supply chain management and solutions for government sectors.

While India has remained blockchain-friendly, its stance on cryptocurrencies is definitely hostile. Even though a government official said that India has “no separate law for dealing with issues relating to cryptocurrencies,” in July the government proposed a draft bill called “Banning of Crypto Currency & Regulation of Office Digital Currency Bill 2019”.

If passed, the bill would mean a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country, except for any “Official Digital Currency”.