Indian State of Maharashtra Getting Ready to Test Blockchain Technology 

Indian mass media have reported on the plans of the state government to use blockchain to improve the efficiency of entire economy sectors.

India’s second largest state Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai are getting ready to test blockchain technology in agriculture, transportation, document management and other areas. The process was entrusted to Maharashtra Directorate of Information Technology. The government allocated about 100 million in the local currency (about $1.4 million) for the project. Another 40 million rupees (about $560 thousand) were contributed by the project implementation committee.

Maharashtra is a huge administrative unit with a total population of 114 million people. The state’s authorities are currently preparing a regulatory sandbox, a special legal framework for the introduction of new financial technologies. The state previously expressed its interest in blockchain: its government has recently come to an agreement on cooperation in this area with Bahrain. Indian banks and other organizations are actively introducing fintech technologies.