The Government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) has
signed
a MoU with Covalent Fund to start a Blockchain ecosystem in India. The collaboration
will focus
on creation of manpower, access to capital and creation of an India-focused Blockchain stack at Fintech
Valley Vizag. An investment of up to $10 million will be done as an initial
pilot program.
There are also plans to set up a Blockchain University soon
through collaboration between Covalent Fund and the State Government.
The FinTech hub in Visakhapatnam or Vizag, called FinTech
Valley Vizag was launched in 2016 to bring together global financial services
companies, investors, startups, government and academia.
It is a purpose-built and government supported facility that
provides state-of-the-art plug and play facility at subsidised rates under the Designated Technology
Park scheme. The facility can be used as co-working space for resident
Fintech start-ups, accelerators, incubators and innovation hubs, growth space
in the future for them as they grow, and a collaboration and events/conference
space for all stakeholders. A range of incentives are
provided for companies to set up shop at the FinTech hub.
In October 2016, FinTech Valley Vizag organised a Blockchain
Business Conference, with support from the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology, Government of India. The State Government also hosted a
series of 18 hackathons
in selected 18 colleges across the state in association with Fintech Valley
Vizag, and Hackmania Technology Pvt. Ltd.
The
Hindu reported on January 16 that eight startups have been selected for
undergoing incubation under FinTech Valley Vizag’s accelerator programme. The accelerator
programme will make use of the use case repository developed for financial
service institutions, including banks, non-banking financial institutions, insurance
firms and capital market companies.
The State Government has also been taking a lead in exploring
the use of blockchain in the public sector.
Last year, it was reported
that the Andhra Pradesh state government plans to start moving some
departmental data onto blockchain platforms within 8-12 months. Pilots had been
launched two departments, civil supplies and land records. According to an article
in the Economic Times, the Andhra Pradesh government had also initiated
discussions with financial technology service provider, Broadridge Financial
Solutions. Broadbridge is also involved in a collaboration with AP Electronics
and IT Agency (APEITA), an autonomous institute formed by the government and
GITAM University and Broadridge to introduce job-ready courses in blockchain
technology.
According to a recent report
in The Hindu from earlier this month, an Indian FinTech firm called Zebi
Data India has built a blockchain-based solution for hosting land records that
is being used in Amaravati, the Capital region of Andhra Pradesh. About one
lakh land records with the CRDA (Capital Regional Development Authority) are
now on blockchain.
