INDIA IS INTERESTED IN BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

According to India’s Finance Minister Arun Jai “The [Indian] government will explore the use of blockchain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy.”

This means India may be setting itself in the forefront of building a stepping-stone with governmental backing for maintaining a blockchain technology base for economical activities, as well as governmental ones, as a means of safeguarding information, and allowing the transfer of said information in a safe manner.

However, the Indian Government is adamant in stating that it does not consider Cryptocurrencies as legal tender; therefore, that is where the Indian Government would set the boundaries as to how blockchain technology will have a space to grow in the country.

The Indian Government views the growth and the upheaval of Cryptocurrency as a Digital Wildwest and because of its volatility and lack of regulation, it wants to avoid setting it’s economy in such a shaky ground.  As it was reported by Bloomberg:  “Bitcoin’s January slide knocked $44.2 billion off the $200 billion in market value generated in all of 2017.”

Thus, the Indian Government has almost completely shut the door on Cryptocurrencies to have a life in the Indian Economy.  What the government is really interested in is in implementing Blockchain mainly in “Supply Chain Management” and those industries better related to it.

Such industries could be:

Retail/E-commerce

Where the path of an article may be completely followed from a production factory all the way to the end-store, and finally the sale to the end-user or customer.

Healthcare

When a citizen becomes part of the National Healthcare-System, an ID number is attached to his/her file and this file can be shared among the different levels from both systems; Governmental as well as Private. If an error occurs, it will be easily found and corrected, and the information of the patient will be available to the correct parties instantly, avoiding delays in treatment.

The creation and update of records will be made directly to the Blockchain so that every treatment and transaction with the hospitals is followed, and the patient is thus, treated and screened rapidly and correctly.

Government:

Contracts, Projects and Licenses could all be built via a Blockchain record where all those parties interested can have access, and not one single person has absolute power over them.

There can be a much better transparency as to the actions taken by the Government on the above mentioned examples, and issues may be addressed directly.

The only downfall might be in making sure those managing and those working on the projects and contracts are not colluding from the start.  That might be a question to be worked out from the outset in the way that specific Blockchain is developed and put into action.

As always, the idea is solid, as may be the tools to build it.  However, the spirit of the idea could be twisted by human greed as its bases are set.

All in all, India has taken a giant step into projecting the not so far away usage of Blockchain in real, active, and tangible industries, and areas of economic strength. Time will tell, where, when and how it all develops.