The blockchain technology that underpins everything Web3 has generated worldwide intrigue for its use cases, including in India. In a new development, the municipal corporation of Ahmedabad city in Gujarat, India has issued a notice seeking blockchain developers. The city aims to use blockchain to innovate the storage and maintenance of city-wide data, including personal information of its citizens. India is home to a large number of blockchain developers, accounting for 12 percent of the global pool.
In its official release, the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said that it was looking for an agency that could develop and maintain a blockchain-based platform that would be used for authentication of documents issued by the AMC. Additionally, the platform is also intended to enable the citizens of Ahmedabad to process the transaction of certificates issued by the AMC.
Currently, the city relies on manual registrations, which leaves room for inaccuracies and errors in administration. By deploying a blockchain-based solution, the city aims to maintain the integrity of development rights certificates, birth and death certificates, and fire NOC certificates, and other documentation.
“AMC currently manages the authentication of various certificates manually, including the issuance and transfer of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) manually through physical ledgers. To streamline and secure this process, AMC is seeking to develop a blockchain-based platform to manage the crediting and debiting of TDR and authenticate the transfer of certificates,” AMC said in its post, which is making the rounds on job posting platform LinkedIn.
Blockchain companies or developers who wish to be considered for this project have until October 10 to submit their online bids to the AMC and until October 11 to submit physical bids to the AMC office. The final contract is for three years and six months.
The bidders must perform a technical presentation of the platform they are designing for the AMC. The date for this presentation is not yet known.
In its notification, the AMC stated that the use of blockchain for paperwork would make the process transparent, secure, efficient and available 24*7 to the citizens. At the same time, it would provide the AMC with features such as real-time monitoring of data, besides reducing manual interventions and paper documentation, among other benefits.
India’s non-governmental Web3 advisory body, the Bharat Web3 Association (BWA), reacted to the development, highlighting the growth of blockchain in the governance sector.
“Web3 is growing in government services! BWA welcomes the vision of the AMC; an important step towards transparency and efficiency in public services with blockchain technology!” the BWA noticed.
In July 2024, the Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation (BSEDC) announced plans to implement a blockchain system designed to improve e-governance and support IT businesses within the state. Telangana and Maharashtra are among other states testing blockchain use cases.
In 2023, former Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar had said that India was committed to supporting startups working on blockchain. At the time, a centre of excellence (CoE) in blockchain technology was set up in collaboration with MeitY, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Government of Haryana, Padup Venture Private Limited, IBM, Intel, Global Blockchain Association (GBA) and Foundation of Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) to identify and evaluate blockchain startups.
Last week, the Indian Ministry of Information Technology (MeitY) unveiled a suite of blockchain platforms that will enable Indian developers to build secure, transparent and trustworthy digital solutions such as e-Stamps solutions, judicial applications, forensic applications, consent management framework, IoT device security management, chain of residence certificates. Also included are agricultural produce tracking and child care institution inspection system.
