IIT-Kanpur incubated company to help K'taka govt develop blockchain network

Hyderabad: CRUBN, IIT-Kanpur incubated company, has partnered with the Centre for Smart Governance, a software development agency of the Karnataka Government, to develop a blockchain network across the country.

The blockchain network will be developed as a "decentralized trust and efficiency layer for all eGovernment Procurement (e-GP) systems across the country," IIT Kanpur said.

"e-GP systems cater to the procurement and tendering requirements of various government departments and organizations. Though e-GP systems have contributed to enhanced efficiency and transparency in government procurement, there is potential for further advancement of the existing systems," it added.

The partnership aims to ease the hassle of the existing systems by making more than 50 operational e-GP systems across the country interoperable.

"We have a dynamic space within the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) that helps in breeding innovations. All the incubatees of the SIIC have been contributing to the country in various means, and in time of crucial need. I am delighted for the team of CRUBN, who have come forward to help in developing a key blockchain network across the country that would enrich the existing e-governance systems. This will help IIT Kanpur in realising the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat in state-of-the-art technologies and making India a technology super power," Professor Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur, said.

The blockchain network will be used for validating the claims of suppliers along with their identities. It will connect all the e-GP systems through a network, which will help retrieve and validate relevant supplier data between various e-GP Systems that are in use within India, the institute said.

"The proposed system will also digitize Bank guarantees by powering them using the trust-based automation of Blockchain. When fully operational, this system will be a pan-India system that would reduce the time and cost associated with public procurements made using e-GP systems," it added.