Decentralized, secure and efficient

Blockchain is seen as a technology with a potential to disrupt almost all industries and economies. Blockchain technology offers a decentralized, secure, and efficient way to manage transactions across multiple parties in a business network. Developers, companies, and governments recognize the possibilities and have already started coming up with many use cases of implementation.

Blockchain is seen as a technology with a potential to disrupt almost all industries and economies.

It is estimated that Blockchain in 2030 could generate $3 trillion/year in business value. It is possible to imagine blockchain powering 10-20% of our global economic infrastructure by then. The ‘World Economic Forum’ anticipates that 10% of global GDP will be stored on the blockchain by 2025. Use cases of this technology may be different but what remains unchanged are the benefits derived from using the technology as it provides solutions to the commonly faced problems today in terms of transparency, immutability, redundancy and security of data and systems.

Apart from Financial Services, Capital Markets, Insurance, Governments, Health, Education and a host of other consumer services are making significant investments in research and development to see how they can harness blockchain.

Hyderabad is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in the development of blockchain technology.

Hyderabad is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in the development of blockchain technology due to the critical mass of industries leveraging blockchain technology located in Hyderabad (financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, supply chain and logistics etc.), access to talent, support of entrepreneurship, and collaboration with enterprises.

As the industries across embark upon the journey of adoption of blockchain technology, the government will have a crucial role to play. Government is seen as a facilitator for providing a conducive environment to the industry players through much-needed interventions on regulatory reforms, skill and capacity building, standardization, interoperability, infrastructure and security measures.

The Vision

In line with its vision to be a leader in emerging technologies, the Government of Telangana has taken up several initiatives to develop a conducive ecosystem for the industry in the State. Realizing the potential of Blockchain technology, the government in consultation with the industry is working towards making Hyderabad an active hub in this technology. The State envisions:

To make Hyderabad one of the top 10 Blockchain Cities of the world.

Taking a giant leap in this direction, the Government of Telangana has conceptualized India’s first Blockchain District which which will be a physical area within Hyderabad and will aim to create the world’s best blockchain technology ecosystem. The Blockchain District will house all major blockchain technology companies, will have a huge incubator and a world-class facility for promoting research, innovation and industry collaboration. This one of its kind initiatives will aim to put all blockchain companies based out of Hyderabad at a strategically advantageous position globally.

Blockchain District

Blockchain District, anchored by the Government of Telangana, brings together different facets of the blockchain technology realm in the city of Hyderabad: tech companies, research organizations, academic institutions, startups, investors, enablers, and user groups and communities. Discovering who is doing what, making connections, finding resources, collaborating, and collectively amplifying the impact created in the field of blockchain.

Through strategic partners, the goal is to take this collective forum to other blockchain initiatives and clusters globally. Government of Telangana, IIIT – Hyderabad, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and Tech Mahindra are the Founding Members of Blockchain District.

Strategic Pillars

While the Blockchain District acts as an anchor around which the blockchain ecosystem will develop, the Blockchain Framework sets the strategic direction and is based around four main pillars.

Developing Talent Pool

The cost of talent is the largest expense for most technology firms, and the quality of talent is becoming one of the most important differentiators. With a long-term talent-supply focus, the State will facilitate introduction of formal education and certification programs to meet the growing demand for skilled resources as blockchain technology adoption matures. Special programs will be created, and initiatives will be taken to build the talent pool in Telangana.

Supporting Infrastructure

Blockchain, like other emerging technologies, is going through phases of exploration, pilot tests, early adoption and finally implementation to reap the intended value. Companies and innovators take a cautious approach towards making significant capex investment that may be needed before the technology adoption starts making commercial promise. The aggregation of interested stakeholders for shared usage of required infrastructure for testing, development and initial deployment of blockchain solutions is one way of optimizing the cost while paving the way for continuous research and development.

Government of Telangana will support the use of shared infrastructure, both IT and physical, to encourage research, prototyping and development of blockchain solutions in the state. Telangana State will work towards the creation of shared infrastructure facilities which can be utilized by start-ups, industry, communities and academia either at nominal or free of cost.

Promoting Research and Innovation

The innovation ecosystem will only flourish when there exists a continuous flow of ideas. The Blockchain District will provide a platform for Academic institutions and Industry to come together and provide students hands-on industry experience through internships on the real-life implementation and problem-solving around the technology. Universities and technical institutions of Telangana will be promoted and encouraged to build partnerships with technology companies to undertake research in this technology and build solutions and skills supporting the future initiatives of the private and public sector.

Research, innovation and prototype development shall be promoted in innovative solutions in blockchain design and development of Cryptographic Algorithms and Security Protocols. Government will facilitate partnership of select industry players with Blockchain District to set up incubators and accelerators to promote innovation in blockchain technology. The government will fund research programs in blockchain technology by setting up research chairs in select premier institutes.

Enabling Collaboration and Building Community

Enabling collaboration and building community are very critical to tapping the potential capabilities of the growing blockchain industry. Government of Telangana regards its role in the development of the blockchain ecosystem as one which supports the distinct needs of the respective stakeholders, entrepreneurs, capital providers, developers, governments, and academics.

Focus Areas

While digital currencies are initial users of Blockchain technology, application of the technology is catching up fast in sectors such as Banking, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare and others. The Telangana State will have a focussed approach to harness sector-specific opportunities and deal with underlying hurdles in partnership with the industry.

• Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)
• Logistics & Supply Chain
• Energy
• Life Sciences
• Government Departments & Institutions
• Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
• Real Estate

Blockchain Initiatives

eVoting

A smartphone-based solution has been developed to enable eVoting, especially for vulnerable demographics. AI is used for a three-factor authentication of valid voters viz. name-matching with the Aadhaar card, liveness detection of the individual, and image matching with the Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) database. Blockchain (Distributed Ledger) is used to secure the de-identified and encrypted votes. A dry run was successfully conducted in Khammam District in October 2021 and got positive feedback, with 85% of the users terming it as user-friendly.

Gunny Bag Tracking

The State’s Public Distribution System (PDS) has 2.83 million beneficiaries and distributes 110 million food grain bags annually, but tracking the inventory of gunny bags and traceability of supplies has been difficult. Hence, a pilot has been started where blockchain is deployed to track distribution at the gunny bag level. The goal is to have an end-to-end tracking system, eliminating discrepancies in the quantity and quality of food grains.

Seed Traceability

A pilot project to trace securely the movement of truthfully labelled seeds from production to the last farmer on a blockchain network. AgHub incubated startup TraceX developed the solution to curb the spurious seeds menace and save the farmers from purchasing them from the market. Farmers can scan the QR codes on seed packets and validate their authenticity and source.

IGRS Department T-Chits Project

A chit fund automation project using blockchain was successfully implemented in two Assistants Registrar of Chits (ARC) offices as a pilot.

IGRS Department Property Registration using Blockchain

C-DAC has implemented the blockchain-based property registration in the Shamshabad Sub-Registrar Office as a pilot and upon successful execution, it will be extended across the State.