Budget 2018: Some might say it was the writing on the wall, given RBI’s paper had mentioned Blockchain last year and Andhra Pradesh (AP) government announced digitising of land records using the technology, but the FM, by declaring the use of blockchain, has undoubtedly ushered a new era of digitisation for the country. With state governments on a massive drive to digitise records, not only can blockchain come in handy, but it can also ensure trust and transparency, while also reducing the amount of litigation. More important, this would be one of the few times that the government would pick up new technology from the financial sector and incorporate it. Although blockchain has been existent since the advent of digital currency—it is what supports transactions on the Bitcoin network, which the government has declared illegal—it is only in the last few years that the system has come in vogue. The blockchain is a digital ledger which operates as a digital spreadsheet. One can only bring changes in this if all parties are agreeable, besetting it with trust.
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Even if India fast-tracks this process, it will still lag far behind the world in Blockchain adoption. Governments of Australia, Nigeria and companies are already experimenting with the technology for shareholder voting, distribution of necessities, and workings of the stock market.But what the government can do is adopt a new approach towards the technology, and this is where AP’s example comes in handy. The state only announced the adoption once it was able to get the stakeholders to a hackathon. India cannot claim the mantle for blockchain adoption, but by conducting nationwide discussions, it can undoubtedly invent new practices for the technology.
