Blockchain, the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrencies and other Web3 ecosystems, has been attracting interest from Indian government agencies for some time now. Recently, Bihar has become the latest state to explore the potential applications of blockchain in India. The Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation (BSEDC) has announced plans to implement a blockchain system designed to improve e-governance and support IT businesses within the state. To achieve this goal, the authorities have invited reputable IT companies to submit proposals for the development of this infrastructure.
About Bihar Blockchain Plan
In a detailed proposal seen by Gadgets360, the BSEDC claims that departments affiliated with the Bihar government want to improve the security, transparency and sustainability of stored data. Blockchain technology offers these benefits through the Bihar Blockchain Service Infrastructure (BBSI).
Besides e-governance, Bihar also aims to implement blockchain-based applications and solutions in other sectors including agriculture, land registry, public distribution system, benefit tracking and distribution, data integrity and healthcare.
“The platform would provide an immutable ledger secured by cryptography and peer-to-peer networking, enabling applications to secure and verify government data and documents. Additionally, it would host a family of smart contract-enabled workflows that would enable departments to build efficient, non-repudiation and automated workflows,” according to the details shared by the BSEDC.
With this initiative, the Bihar government aims to create a state-wide uniform digital ecosystem and provide fraud-proof e-governance assistance to its citizens and business ecosystems. The companies that want to apply as developers for the BBSI have until August 8 to submit their required documents and a detailed proposal on how they plan to create this platform.
“The submitted proposals should be valid for 120 days from the date of submission. BSEDC will make its best efforts to select a company within this period. The bidder offering the lowest amount will be the successful bidder,” BSEDC added.
Industry Insider Opinions
“A national unified blockchain is best suited for projects that fall under the auspices of the central government, such as banking and payments,” Sharat Chandra, founder of EmpowerEdge Ventures, told Gadgets360. Chandra has worked with several state governments in India to experiment with and fund blockchain initiatives.
Chandra explained that state governments in India have the freedom to design and implement projects as they see fit. This allows them to test the use of blockchain, which offers advantages over traditional servers that are expensive to maintain and prone to hacking, among other disadvantages.
Discussing potential challenges, Chandra said, “Most government processes are disjointed and still not digitized. There are challenges related to integration with legacy systems and ensuring data localization drives up the cost of implementation.”
Bihar is not the only state in India trying to integrate blockchain into its internal tech infrastructure. Telangana and Maharashtra are some other states testing blockchain technology.
