India’s planned national blockchain infrastructure to boost collaboration with open APIs
Several media outlets in India have reported that the country is building a national infrastructure for its nascent blockchain technology industry.
The ambitious project, “Design and Development of a Unified Blockchain Framework for Offering National Blockchain Service and Creation of Blockchain Ecosystem” is designed to provide industry participants with open APIs for improved collaboration.
After several months of initial experimentation, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has been tasked with developing India’s national blockchain infrastructure. MeitY has been investigating the potential of blockchain since 2021, culminating in the ministry’s decision to publish a blockchain strategy.
The latest project for a national blockchain infrastructure shares striking similarities with the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) and the Chinese Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN). At launch, industry players won’t have to go through the hassle of setting up their own blockchain nodes for interoperability or security.
The reports claim that MeitY’s project will provide developers with smart contract templates for various scenarios, but a premium will be given to public applications. The national blockchain infrastructure will offer templates in health, education, finance, shipping and logistics.
MeitY’s proposed offering will rely on enterprise solutions such as Sawtooth and Hyperledger Fabrics in the first phase, while non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are also on the cards. It appears that the infrastructure will be a hybrid of EBSI and BSN, as details indicate that both government agencies and private enterprises will be on board the platform.
Calls for a blockchain infrastructure in India have gathered steam to reach a fervent pitch as National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) CEO Dilip Asbe penned an opinion piece in favor of the move in the Indian Express. In his paper, Asbe noted that “the ideal solution to solve most of the known problems with decentralized technologies lies in the middle ground” of a national operating platform.
Forge on without a uniform standard
Indian regional governments have been investigating blockchain for record keeping in land transactions and for criminal investigations in the absence of a unified standard. Several civil society groups have launched learning modules to increase blockchain adoption in the country in collaboration with service providers and universities.
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made no secret of the government’s belief in blockchain as she confirmed that the country is targeting a 46% adoption rate for the technology. Already available metrics place India as the leading blockchain hub in the region ahead of Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
See: Bangalore and blockchain – the synergy is there
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