India’s government has announced that it is preparing a national strategy for the use of blockchain technology.

Responding to a question raised in the country's parliament, Sanjay Dhotre, minister of state for electronics and IT, said, “Considering the potential of Blockchain Technology and the need for shared infrastructure for different use cases, an approach paper on National Level Blockchain Framework is being prepared."

He explained that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) plans to scale up and widely deploy blockchain technology, describing it as “one of the important research areas” with potential in areas including governance, banking, finance, and cybersecurity.

Dhotre added that the ministry intends to work with The Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) and other government agencies on the initiative. He said that the ministry is developing a blockchain-based Proof of Existence (PoE) framework for digital artifacts, which will be used to authenticate academic certificates, sale deeds, and other documents.

“The Indian Government is formulating appropriate regulations to promote adoption of blockchain technology, not just for the sake of technology, but to solve tough problems that were hitherto unsolved and provide a completely new experience to end-users,” Rajesh Dhuddu, global practice leader for blockchain at leading IT service provider Tech Mahindra, told Decrypt back in June.

A property registration blockchain solution is already being piloted in Telangana State. The ministry also referenced other initiatives enabling Cloud Security and trade finance. In June, India’s telecom regulator mandated that all telcos must use blockchain to help protect customers from spam.

While India has been mulling over different blockchain implementations for a while, it has previously been critical of cryptocurrencies. Plans for a mandatory 10-year jail sentence for crypto users were mooted earlier this year by a panel reporting to the country’s finance ministry, but it has yet to become law.

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