Maharashtra to use blockchain technology to monitor services

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Maharashtra, the second largest state in India, announced that they will be using blockchain technology in a wide variety of service areas in an attempt to improve delivery and efficiency. This ambitious plan will include the implementation of this technology in areas like agricultural marketing, registration of vehicles, document management, and supply chains.

The plan will be to act as a regulatory sandbox, creating solutions and applications that can be tested to see how effective they will be in improving the efficiency and security of these systems. The Maharashtra Information Technology Directorate will be in charge of developing and testing this project, as 100 million rupees ($1.4 million) has been set aside for the adoption and implementation of these program over the next 18 months.

To help get the project underway, Maharashtra has already approved the use of $760,000 for the development of this technology and has earmarked an additional $1.9 million for future projects.

In a statement by the Indian IT department principal secretary, S.V.R. Srinivas, he explained, “The state government is adopting a cutting edge technology to help enhance efficiency in the governance. Already the government has completed its first blockchain pilot in the fields of health, supply chain, documents, and SSC certificates. A detailed report has been prepared to go in for extensive use of blockchain technology in various government departments. A regulatory sandbox, which will be a common framework for adopting blockchain technology, will be prepared in the next five to six months.”

While cryptocurrencies have been banded in India, the use of blockchain technology has gained great acceptance in a variety of areas. Already there are two pilot programs implemented in India that are using this technology, and it looks that through government entities like that in Maharashtra that its use will be expanded further.

Private industry in India has already been looking for uses for this technology. Reliance JioInfocomm, the largest telecom company in the country, is already set to implement the world’s largest blockchain network. This looks to be implemented within the next 12 months and will contain tens of thousands of nodes once it is launched.

In a statement provided by the telecom giant’s chairman and managing director, Shri Mukesh D. Ambani, he explained, “Over the next 12 months, Jio will install across India one of the largest blockchain networks in the world, with tens of thousands of nodes operational on day one.” Jio has a current user base of over 330 million people.”