Blockchain builder ChromaWay partners with Indian state for smart land registry

Blockchain specialist ChromaWay has partnered with the government of Andhra Pradesh to build a blockchain-powered solution for land registration.

Disputed land ownership is frequently a cause of conflict in India and the state of Andhra Pradesh is no exception. The current system, where land and property records are centralised in government databases, is inherently vulnerable to improper or unauthorised manipulation.

This can make it difficult to reliably and unambiguously establish who actually owns a given property in the event that records are incongruent, absent, or for some reason suspicious.

The government of Andhra Pradesh is exploring technologies like blockchain that can help solve these problems by decentralising data storage in such a way that it becomes difficult to manipulate without both having the proper authority, and following proper protocols.​ ​

This has the potential to eliminate fraud and errors, and greatly reduce the administrative burden of land registration and title transfer.

Henrik Hjelte, CEO of ChromaWay, will present this pilot project at the Blockchain Business Conference in Visakhapatnam, India on October 9th & 10th. KPMG India, knowledge partners of Fintech Valley Vizag – the flagship initiative of the Government of Andhra Pradesh – was instrumental in organising the pilot.

Mr J A Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary & IT advisor to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, said: "Blockchain is the technology of the future. It will not only change the way we perceive processes but it also has the potential to transform the economy.

"Of course, we all are yet to fully discover this technology and hence the Government of Andhra Pradesh has engaged with startups from across the globe such as Chromaway to run proofs of concept within its own departments.

"The two implemented use cases that will be showcased at the Blockchain Business Conference hosted at Fintech Valley Vizag are in the areas of Land Registration and Road Transport Authority. Chromaway's expertise and previous implementation in countries such as Sweden has added immense value to our understanding of blockchain."

The​ ​initiative uses Postchain, ChromaWay's consortium database platform; the system consists of a blockchain backend and a web app frontend. Postchain is built from the ground up to work with the most widely used databases, while the backend is able to closely parallel existing government systems, said a statement.

ChromaWay first gained experience with blockchain land registries when it was chosen as the technology provider for a long-term pilot organised by the Swedish land registry, Lantmäteriet.