Blockchain Could Add Upto $5 Billion In The Indian Economy

Blockchain could help increase productivity and reduce cost, resultantly adding about $5 billion to India’s economy, in the next 5 years. The blockchain system in India is evolving and creating awareness about the usefulness of this technology, which could go a long way in helping the country realise its potential.

Blockchain can widely influence various sectors in the economy including banking, finance and insurance, as well as travel, retail, healthcare, and supply chain, among others. Yet, the response of Indian organisations has been far from enthusiastic. The primary factors behind this are the lack of awareness and unavailability of people who are adequately skilled.

Vishwanathan, the head of Nasscom’s 10,000 startups initiative, believes that there are 20-30 Blockchain startups in the country, and one of the most eloquent way to invest in startups is investing in startups.

To create awareness on the importance of Blockchain and develop technicians for its adoption in India, Nasscom tied up with the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), Canada. Both these entities decided to collaborate on various activities, including webinars and knowledge sharing. The industry body also launched an application – called FutureSkills, for skills development in various technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, robotic process automation, Internet of Things, Big Data, 3D printing among many others.

Nasscom also started the first Industry Partnership Programme in collaboration with BRI. Fidelity Investments, Larsen and Toubro Infotech, ICICI Bank, Amdocs, SAP Labs, Wipro, and IBM are among the big corporates that have joined the initiative as strategic partners. In this program, the shortlisted companies are required to come together for a 36 hour discussion session in Bengaluru which is to be held on July 28-29, to explore new opportunities and creating innovative solutions in the areas of Blockchain technology.

It is necessary in India to produce and promote individuals that are skilled in the technology, and making the public believe that the technology is much simpler and safer to use than the existing social media platforms and cloud technology. Organising multiple hackathons and getting international research papers published on Blockchain technology are one of the main priorities of Nasscom currently, although the time might not yet be ripe for India to think of a new framework, specifically for Blockchain as it can come under the scope regulations on accounts of public security and privacy.

When the stance of the government has been continuously changing about the use of blockchain, efforts such as these could help promote blockchain in a positive manner in the Indian market.