Indian Telangana Implements Blockchain for Land Records

The plan to move data on a blockchain-based system comes at the right moment, as land records have to be updated anyway because of the introduction of a subsidy scheme that should start in 2018. The new subsidy program will affect all of the more than 10,000 villages within the state borders. Based on the program’s terms, eligible farmers will receive INR 4,000 per acre, twice a year.

However, according to Jayesh Ranjan, it is an opportune coincidence, but the technology is not only about the necessary update. Blockchain will bring better security and processing of data. He said:

“In the past, databases have been tampered with. For example, someone might (fraudulently) register 10 acres instead of two. So to prevent such misuses, because financial transactions take place with them, we are providing an additional sense of security.”

The National Institute of Smart Governance is responsible for the bidding process in which an executor of the blockchain project will be selected.

Ranjan added that his department would apply geographic information system (GIS) mapping when introducing land records into the database. This is because the state revenue department discovered that one-fifth of all the land records in the region have inaccuracies.

According to him, the whole project should be ready until the end of December this year.

“Implementing blockchain technology is a reform. Another government that has reformed on property deals is Rajasthan.”

“A lot of the litigations will be cleared, and the cost, time and effort of transactions will also decrease considerably. This is a bold move by the government. We are currently engaged with a few progressive state governments,” added Kumar.

Earlier, Russia also announced the first government project related to blockchain technology. The country will apply DLT to its Unified State Register of Real Estate for the Moscow region.