Andhra Pradesh Deploys Blockchain Technology Across Administration

While India may not have adopted the blockchain technology fully, Andhra Pradesh, in its capacity as a state, has piloted the blockchain technology in two of its departments and plans to deploy it across the whole administration, said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu. He said that the state had also created the largest repository of use cases for global start-ups to test their solutions. The Chief Minister went on to say that the state was leading in e-governance and was using blockchain technology to address the cybersecurity issues.

The state of Andhra Pradesh launched pilot projects using blockchain for land records and transport. State Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh said that the technology was required to prevent the tampering of land records which had already been digitized and placed online.

The technology is being used in the Transport Department to streamline the titles of the vehicles. Lokesh said that Andhra Pradesh required blockchain to protect its IT assets since the state accounts for 60 percent of all Aadhaar-based transactions and used the technology for delivery of services.

Naidu said that Andhra Pradesh was positioning itself to take advantage of the niche technologies to create business and investment opportunities. The activity covers new technologies like blockchain, big data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), cyber security and artificial intelligence. Partnering with 40 banks and financial institutions, Fintech Valley has already created the biggest repository of used cases.

The start-ups will work on problems to come out with solutions and this will become the intellectual property of Fintech Valley. NASSCOM President R. Chandrasekhar announced that as part of its 10,000 startup programme, it will set up a 70-seat facility in Vizag to help incubate startups, mentorship and provide world-class products. Naidu said nine companies were already set up in Fintech Valley while 16 companies would start their commercial operations soon, exuding confidence that Vizag would become blockchain capital of not just India but of the world.