Indian States Look to Launch Blockchain Land Registry Efforts

New details have emerged about some of the blockchain applications being pursed by state governments in India.

Regional news source The Economic Times reports that the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are both exploring the use of the tech to digitally rework their land registries. In Telangana – with support from the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) – state officials are looking to apply blockchain to the revenue department as well.

Notably, the land registry project there – aimed at boosting transparency and reducing the incidence of document forgery – is expected to reach full production stage sometime in the next year.

In a similar capacity, across Telangana's southern border, Andhra Pradesh is also working to integrate the tech into its civil supply database.

According to the report, these databases store information of public subsidies and land records that often become targets of cyberattacks. Andhra Pradesh officials are said to be working with local startups in the country to build blockchain-powered services.

Recent statements from an Andhra Pradesh government official suggest that there are some potential barriers to further adoption, however.

NT Arunkumar, special representative for IT and Innovation for Andhra Pradesh's IT, took the stage during CoinDesk's Consensus 2017 blockchain conference last month.

During a panel appearance, he called for more collaboration between authorities, especially in cases where national boundaries are involved.

"There needs to be more cross-border orchestration," he said at the time.