“Healthcare, banking, education, and agriculture are all potential beneficiaries from cryptocurrencies; a government push is required.”
Blockchain technology has piqued the interest of many as India’s digital footprint has grown significantly in recent years. While most people associate blockchain with cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoins, tech designers have yet to fully realise its disruptive potential in a variety of other industries. Blockchain has the potential to be the most disruptive technology in today’s rapidly evolving interconnected digital ecosystem.
Blockchain technology has the potential to transform business processes and applications in a variety of industries, including financial services, agriculture, healthcare, and education. Blockchain-powered smart contracts, in which every piece of information is recorded in a traceable and irreversible manner, have the potential to revolutionise the ease of doing business. It will significantly improve the credibility, accuracy, and efficiency of a contract while lowering the risk of fraud.
Property deals
Property transactions in India are still conducted on paper, which makes them prone to dispute. The use of blockchain technology would result in revolutionary changes due to the system’s inherent transparency, traceability, and efficiency. State governments are already investigating how to use this technology to bring order and efficiency to real estate transactions.
Financial services has been a leader in blockchain-based use cases, which are resulting in significant improvements in operations and client experience. Yes Bank, for example, is an early adopter of this technology, having implemented a blockchain-based multi-nodal system to completely digitise vendor financing for one of its clients. The system now allows the bank to process vendor payments on time without the use of physical documents or manual intervention, while allowing both parties to track the status of transactions in real time.
Healthcare and pharmaceuticals are two of the most promising areas because they generate and exchange a large amount of clinical data, which, due to its sensitive nature, necessitates a secure and dependable system. By lowering the risk of insurance claim fraud, blockchain could play a critical role in health insurance claims management. By tracking every step of the supply chain network at every level, the technology can also be used to prevent the sale of counterfeit drugs in the country.
The education sector can benefit from a blockchain-powered, time-stamped repository of student pass-outs and job records, making it easier for employers to verify candidates’ credibility.
Seasonal data related to crop and climatic cycles, as well as soil testing data, can also be protected and used by multi-nodal blockchain applications for the benefit of insurance companies, researchers, market agencies, and even stock price prediction.
Blockchain technology has proven to be a game changer on a global scale. Nasdaq Inc. has successfully tested a blockchain-powered proxy voting system on its Estonian exchange and is preparing to roll it out on a larger scale. Blockchain-based systems are being developed in Russia for land registry management as well as to improve the local voting system. The Dubai government, on the other hand, is working to implement paperless digital systems based on blockchain in areas such as visa applications, licence renewals, and bill payments.
Government as a facilitator
While the Indian government has ruled out the possibility of considering cryptocurrencies as legal tender, it has supported the idea of investigating the use of blockchain technology to usher in India’s digital economy.
The NITI Aayog is investigating the use of blockchain and AI technologies in a variety of fields, including education, healthcare, agriculture, electricity distribution, and land records. The Think-Tank is reportedly developing a platform called ‘IndiaChain’ — a shared, India-specific blockchain infrastructure that would leverage the Jan-Dhan-Yojana, Aadhaar, and mobile trinity.
This one-of-a-kind initiative, if implemented, will most likely be the world’s largest blockchain implementation programme in governance.
What may work for India is Blockchain 2.0, which allows programmable transactions (modified by a condition or set of conditions), extending its capability from simple transactions to more complex transactions. It can also address privacy and regulatory concerns, perform complex functions, and is not tied to a single vendor.
Meanwhile, several state governments, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, have begun evaluating and, in some cases, implementing distributed ledger technology for their e-governance initiatives. The government of Andhra Pradesh is pioneering blockchain adoption by implementing pilot projects in land records and transportation.
To ensure a truly digital future
The ability of blockchain to improve real-time visibility in the functioning of the supply chain opens up a plethora of possibilities across a variety of sectors to prevent leakages and thus increase efficiency. Recognizing its true potential, a number of India’s leading corporations have begun to invest in Blockchain. Simultaneously, a number of start-ups are emerging in this space, developing and utilising the technology for a variety of applications.
While baby steps are being taken, it is also critical that we all work together to identify and resolve key issues and challenges in implementing this technology, the most important of which is data privacy. A sustainable future for blockchain would also necessitate the establishment and maintenance of the appropriate ecosystem in the country.
