Bihar Officials Plan State-Wide Uniform Blockchain for IT, E-Governance Uses, Invites Bidders

Blockchain, the underlying technology supporting cryptocurrencies and other Web3 ecosystems, has been garnering interest from Indian government bodies for some time. Recently, Bihar has become the latest state to explore the potential applications of blockchain in India. The Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation (BSEDC) has announced plans to implement a blockchain system designed to enhance e-governance and support IT businesses within the state. To this end, the authorities have invited reputable IT firms to submit proposals for the development of this infrastructure.

About Bihar's Blockchain Plan

In a detailed proposal seen by Gadgets360, the BSEDC claimed that the departments affiliated to the government of Bihar wish to leverage the security, transparency, and permanency of stored records, which the blockchain technology brings to the table through the Bihar Blockchain Service Infrastructure (BBSI).

Alongside e-governance, Bihar is also looking to implement blockchain-based applications and solutions across other sectors including agriculture, land records, public distribution system, benefits tracking and distribution, data integrity as well as healthcare.

“The platform would provide an immutable ledger secured by cryptography and peer-to-peer networking which would allow applications to secure and verify government data and documents. Additionally, it would host a family of smart contract enabled workflows that would allow departments to build efficient, non-repudiable and automated workflows,” the details shared by the BSEDC noted.

Through this initiative, the government in Bihar is attempting to create a state-wide uniform digital ecosystem and offer tamper-proof e-governance assistance to its citizens as well as business ecosystems. The companies that wish to apply as a developer for the BBSI have until August 8 to submit their required documents and a detailed proposal on how they plan to create this platform.

“The proposals submitted must be valid for 120 days from the date of submission BSEDC will make its best efforts to select a firm within this period. Bidder who will quote the lowest amount will become the successful bidder,” the BSEDC added.

Opinions from Industry Insider

“A national uniform blockchain is best suited for projects under the central government's purview, such as banking and payments,” Sharat Chandra, Founder of EmpowerEdge Ventures, told Gadgets360. Chandra has been working with multiple state governments in India to experiment with and fund blockchain initiatives.

Chandra explained that state governments in India have the liberty to design and implement projects at their discretion. This allows them to test the uses of blockchain, which offers advantages over traditional servers that are expensive to maintain and prone to hacking, among other drawbacks.

Discussing potential challenges, Chandra said, “Most government processes are disjointed and still not digitized. There are challenges with respect to integration with legacy systems, and ensuring data localization drives up the cost of implementation.”

Bihar is not the only state in India trying to integrate blockchain into their internal tech infrastructure. Telangana and Maharashtra are among other states that are testing blockchain technology.