India announces creation of huge blockchain district in Telangana

India’s Telangana state government has partnered with a multinational IT giant Tech Mahindra to create the country’s first Blockchain District.

“The Telangana government is proud to pioneer the Blockchain District in India,” said the IT minister of the state, K T Rama Rao.

“With the support from Tech Mahindra, we envision to set a benchmark in providing blockchain technology solutions and platforms across industries.”

Tech Mahindra CEO C P Gurmani says the “Blockchain District is a global talent hub which can unlock the value of blockchain technology in democratising data and solving large scale problems. It is also a huge step in re-skilling and right-skilling the workforce of the future.”

“Blockchain experts will be our crowning jewels as together we work to make of India the blockchain capital of the world,” he added.

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India’s new so-called Blockchain District is located in an area inside Telangana’s capital city, Hyderabad, about 850 miles south of the nation’s capital, New Delhi. The district will have specific buildings to house and incubate Indian blockchain startups.

Based on the agreement, the Telangana government will be in charge of building the infrastructure of the new district. It will also be responsible for drafting and approving policies and regulatory support for the blockchain startups.

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Tech Mahindra will be in charge of providing its expertise and skills in the blockchain ecosystem. The firm will also be responsible for developing the so-called Eleven01 protocol, a blockchain platform specifically for Indian startups.

The Indian tech giant will also work with international blockchain startups to bring open ledger technology solutions to the local market.

The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh recently signed an agreement with a fund to kickstart the development of a blockchain ecosystem as part of the entities FinTech initiative.