In a historic move, the Dantewada District Administration in Chhattisgarh, India, has successfully digitized over 700,000 land records on the blockchain dating back to the 1950s.
This initiative, executed by Zupple Labs in collaboration with Indian blockchain startup LegitDoc, marks a significant shift toward secure, tamper-proof, and easily accessible land records.
The First Indian Land Digital Record On The Blockchain?
According to a report, on March 6, the Office of Land Records in Dantewada formally announced the completion of this digitization effort.
Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Mayank Chaturvedi, Dantewada’s district collector, emphasized the importance of this initiative, noting that citizens previously faced prolonged delays in obtaining land records, sometimes waiting weeks for verification.
“With the digitization and blockchain integration of these records, access has become instantaneous, and tampering is virtually impossible,” Chaturvedi stated in the report.
To facilitate public access to the digital land records, the government has deployed kiosks across every sub-district, where both citizens and government officials can retrieve necessary information.
However, prior authorization is required to ensure the confidentiality of sensitive data.
The blockchain-based application, a permissioned system, allows revenue officers at the sub-district (Tehsil) level to search, download, and verify land documents efficiently.
Among the records digitized and made accessible via the Avalanche blockchain are key government documents such as B-1 forms (elevator installation), records of rights, plot registers, ownership records, and cadastral maps.
Source: Cointelegraph
Through the Avalanche Explorer, these documents can be verified using smart contracts linked to the blockchain, ensuring an immutable and tamper-proof registry.
This initiative was spearheaded by Jayant Nahata, IAS, who served as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in Dantewada and currently serves as CEO of the Dantewada Zila Panchayat.
Nahata described the project as groundbreaking, stating that it has led to end-to-end digitization and blockchain verifiability of land records dating back to the 1950s.
Beyond streamlining access, blockchain integration is expected to reduce land disputes in the region. It will particularly benefit tribal communities and farmers by providing them with immutable proof of land ownership.
India’s Growing Blockchain Adoption
This blockchain land records initiative is just one example of India’s rapid embrace of digital assets and decentralized technologies.
According to the 2024 Global Adoption Index report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, India ranks as the number one country for crypto adoption globally.
Blockchain risk management firm TRM Labs has also highlighted India’s leadership in this space, attributing the country’s rapid adoption to a growing acceptance of digital assets.
Angela Ang, Senior Policy Advisor at TRM Labs, explained in a report that India’s crypto adoption rate is exceptionally high due to its large unbanked population and high mobile penetration.
“Our methodology takes the incoming crypto volume apportioned to a country based on web traffic, divided by the GDP per capita of that country to arrive at an adjusted volume which we rank countries on,” Ang said.
This aligns with broader trends in India’s digital economy, where decentralized finance (DeFi), crypto trading, and blockchain development have gained immense popularity, particularly among the country’s young, tech-savvy population.
This has led to an estimate that India’s crypto market could grow from $2.5 billion in 2024 to over $15 billion by 2035.
Seeing this boom, companies like Coinbase and Kraken are planning to resume their operations in the country, following the government ban in previous years.
As India continues to lead in crypto adoption, the nation’s current approach to regulation, which is still unclear, will play a crucial role in determining the long-term impact of blockchain technology.
While regulatory challenges persist, the demand for decentralized and transparent systems remains strong, which might push the government to provide regulatory clarity for the space.
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