The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced a new national-level initiative on Tuesday. It is intended to promote the use of blockchain technology in various sectors. The initiative has been named “Blockchain India Challenge.” This move is said to be towards developing indigenous blockchain solutions, in line with India’s Digital Public Infrastructure vision. The ministry says that it is looking to identify high-impact use cases and develop scalable, secure, and interoperable blockchain applications.
What Is MeitY’s Blockchain India Challenge?
The Blockchain India Challenge is intended to encourage visionary Indian startups to pitch and pilot innovative blockchain-based digital governance solutions, as per the ministry. The main objective is to build permissioned blockchain solutions that emphasise regulatory control, security, trust, auditability, and tamper-proof record-keeping for government use cases.
The initiative aims at dealing with the issues of governance and service delivery in the major sectors, including e-procurement, supply chain management, public distribution systems, education, healthcare, agriculture, power, Internet of Things (IoT), land records, and environment and sustainability.
It’s worth noting that the sectors mentioned above are illustrative, not exhaustive, and startups are encouraged to come up with use cases of blockchain technology in sectors other than the above-mentioned, in collaboration with the concerned government departments.
The significance of scaling up the initiative in the startup ecosystem was also emphasised, along with the development of solutions that can be implemented at a national scale.
Eligibility Criteria and Prize Details
The ministry also says that the Blockchain India Challenge is open to Indian startups that are recognised by DPIIT and are working on blockchain solutions that are relevant to the government use cases. The startups that take part in the challenge need to work with the government departments and come up with solutions that can be implemented.
Selected startups will receive stage-wise funding support across three phases:
- Prototype Stage: Rs. 1.5 lakh each for up to 40 participants
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Stage: Rs. 4 lakh each for up to 30 participants
- Deployment Stage: Rs. 10 lakh each for up to 20 participants
In addition, winners in each of the 10 identified use case categories will receive Rs. 50 lakh each, bringing the total prize pool to Rs. 8.80 crore.
How to Apply
Eligible startups can apply by registering on the official challenge portal at https://challenge.cdac.in. Applicants are required to provide information about their proposed blockchain solution, its relevance to the identified government use cases, technical architecture, and deployment plans.
The website also provides information on eligibility criteria, registration process, use cases, guidelines, intellectual property rights (IPR), and other related terms and conditions.
