Last week, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) unveiled the Indian National Blockchain Framework. It has several objectives, including providing a platform for government departments to develop solutions and a lightweight platform for rapid prototyping by researchers and small businesses.
Vishvasya is the national blockchain technology stack that provides blockchain as a service (BaaS). It allows users to create nodes and networks and develop smart contracts, including multiple models. For external developers who need to use blockchain applications, the stack provides APIs to access them.
So far, it supports two permissioned blockchains, but hasn’t mentioned which ones. When we reported that MeitY was working on this project last year, the blockchains were Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Sawtooth.
Several ministries have already developed solutions ranging from judicial applications to document certification and tracking of agricultural products.
Praamaanik is an app that has been promoted. It uses blockchain to verify the security of mobile applications. The app developers provide an electronic fingerprint of their mobile application, which is recorded on the blockchain. When users download the app, they can verify that it is exactly the same and has not been tampered with by using a verification mobile app. For many years, the software community has been signing software versions cryptographically. Verifying the signature requires some technical skills, whereas the Indian solution offers an option that anyone can master.
Besides MeitY, other organisations involved in the development include C-DAC, NIC, IDRBT Hyderabad (for research on banking technology set up by the central bank), IIT Hyderabad, IIIT Hyderabad (3 Is) and SETS Chennai.
This project has similarities with Europe’s EBSI, which provides a platform for government solutions. It also has similarities with China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), which was designed to provide low-cost blockchain infrastructure to small businesses.
