India Town Adopts Avalanche Blockchain Technology
10 Mar, 2025 ● Vijesti o kovanicama
The district administration of a town in India has digitized all land records dating back to the 1950s and secured them on the Avalanche blockchain, aiming for transparent and tamper-proof land governance.
On March 6, the Dantewada District Administration in Chhattisgarh, India, announced the completion of digitizing over 700,000 land records through the Office of Land Records.
These records were secured on the Avalanche blockchain in collaboration with Indian blockchain startup LegitDoc by Zupple Labs.
Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Mayank Chaturvedi, the district collector of Dantewada, emphasized the significance of this initiative:
“For decades, our citizens faced significant delays in accessing their land records, with verification sometimes taking weeks. By digitizing these records and securing them on blockchain, we have ensured they are easily accessible and cannot be tampered with.”
To make these records more accessible, the administration has set up kiosks in every sub-district, allowing both citizens and government officers to retrieve land-related information.
However, access to sensitive data requires prior authorization.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, LegitDoc CEO Neil Martis explained the permissioned nature of the system:
“The application is a permissioned application wherein records can be accessed via Tehsil level (sub-district administration) revenue officers.”
The blockchain-based land records application allows authorized officers to search for land properties, download digitized records, and verify ownership and property details directly on the blockchain.
As part of the system, various government records—including B-1 forms (elevator installation records), records of rights, plot registers, ownership records, and cadastral maps—can be accessed and authenticated via blockchain.
Additionally, officers can verify smart contracts linked to these digital documents through the Avalanche Explorer, ensuring tamper-proof record-keeping.
Cointelegraph was granted exclusive access to a public blockchain-based explorer, offering an open view of onchain data, smart contracts, and blockchain activity related to the Dantewada application.
Devika Mittal, Avalanche India growth consultant, told Cointelegraph:
“Avalanche is honored to support the Office of Land Records, Dantewada in this revolutionary step providing trust and transparency at scale to Lakhs of citizens. Blockchain is the way forward for land record digitization, and Chhattisgarh is at the forefront.”
The project was led by Jayant Nahata, IAS, who previously served as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in Dantewada and is now the CEO of the Dantewada Zila Panchayat.
He highlighted the impact of this initiative:
“This initiative is groundbreaking as it has led to end-to-end digitisation and Blockchain verifiability of all land record since 1950s ensuring security of documents, reduced legal costs and most importantly ease of access to the common citizens of Dantewada.”
Beyond streamlining land record searches, this initiative has enabled tribal communities and farmers to secure ownership records, reducing the likelihood of disputes.
LegitDoc has previously contributed to other Indian state-level blockchain projects, including initiatives for issuing and verifying caste certificates, diploma certificates, and skill certifications.
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/india-dantewada-land-records-avalanche-blockchain
