The Government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) has

signed

a MoU with Covalent Fund to start a Blockchain ecosystem in India. The collaboration

will focus

on creation of manpower, access to capital and creation of an India-focused Blockchain stack at Fintech

Valley Vizag. An investment of up to $10 million will be done as an initial

pilot program.

There are also plans to set up a Blockchain University soon

through collaboration between Covalent Fund and the State Government.

The FinTech hub in Visakhapatnam or Vizag, called FinTech

Valley Vizag was launched in 2016 to bring together global financial services

companies, investors, startups, government and academia.

It is a purpose-built and government supported facility that

provides state-of-the-art plug and play facility at subsidised rates under the Designated Technology

Park scheme. The facility can be used as co-working space for resident

Fintech start-ups, accelerators, incubators and innovation hubs, growth space

in the future for them as they grow, and a collaboration and events/conference

space for all stakeholders. A range of incentives are

provided for companies to set up shop at the FinTech hub.

In October 2016, FinTech Valley Vizag organised a Blockchain

Business Conference, with support from the Ministry of Electronics and

Information Technology, Government of India. The State Government also hosted a

series of 18 hackathons

in selected 18 colleges across the state in association with Fintech Valley

Vizag, and Hackmania Technology Pvt. Ltd.

The

Hindu reported on January 16 that eight startups have been selected for

undergoing incubation under FinTech Valley Vizag’s accelerator programme. The accelerator

programme will make use of the use case repository developed for financial

service institutions, including banks, non-banking financial institutions, insurance

firms and capital market companies.

The State Government has also been taking a lead in exploring

the use of blockchain in the public sector.

Last year, it was reported

that the Andhra Pradesh state government plans to start moving some

departmental data onto blockchain platforms within 8-12 months. Pilots had been

launched two departments, civil supplies and land records. According to an article

in the Economic Times, the Andhra Pradesh government had also initiated

discussions with financial technology service provider, Broadridge Financial

Solutions. Broadbridge is also involved in a collaboration with AP Electronics

and IT Agency (APEITA), an autonomous institute formed by the government and

GITAM University and Broadridge to introduce job-ready courses in blockchain

technology.

According to a recent report

in The Hindu from earlier this month, an Indian FinTech firm called Zebi

Data India has built a blockchain-based solution for hosting land records that

is being used in Amaravati, the Capital region of Andhra Pradesh. About one

lakh land records with the CRDA (Capital Regional Development Authority) are

now on blockchain.