Government Of India Launches Vishvasya-Blockchain Technology Stack to Boost Digital Trust and Transparency

4 min readSep 6, 2024

Anju B Nair, Sr. Technical Content Writer, Kerala Blockchain Academy

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Quick Take:

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken a significant step forward in digital innovation by launching the Vishvasya-Blockchain Technology Stack. This new initiative is set to offer Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) on a geographically distributed infrastructure, paving the way for diverse permissioned blockchain applications. 📊🌐

Highlights from the Launch:

🔹 NBFLite — A lightweight blockchain platform designed as a sandbox for startups and academia to foster innovation and research.

🔹 Praamaanik — A pioneering blockchain-enabled solution for verifying mobile app origin, ensuring authenticity and security.

🔹 National Blockchain Portal — A unified platform for blockchain services and resources.

National Blockchain Framework (NBF) will promote security, trust, and transparency in citizen-centric applications by integrating cutting-edge technologies, including distributed infrastructure, smart contracts, and an API gateway. Hosted across NIC Data Centers in Bhubaneswar, Pune, and Hyderabad, the NBF stack supports the rapid development of blockchain solutions for the public sector. 🛠️🔒

Vision and Goals: Trusted Digital Platforms, Encouraging Innovation & Global Leadership in Blockchain

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In a significant move towards enhancing digital trust and transparency, the Government of India launched the “Vishvasya-Blockchain Technology Stack,” a comprehensive initiative to offer Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) through a geographically distributed infrastructure. The Vishvasya-Blockchain Technology Stack is designed to support various permissioned blockchain-based applications, providing a secure and transparent platform for digital services.

The launch of the Vishvasya-Blockchain Technology Stack marks a significant milestone in India’s digital transformation journey, positioning the country at the forefront of blockchain innovation and adoption.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organised the launch event on September 4, led by Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary of MeitY. Alongside this launch, other key components were unveiled, including “NBFLite,” a lightweight blockchain platform, “Praamaanik,” an innovative solution for verifying the origin of mobile apps, and the “National Blockchain Portal.”

During the launch event, MeitY, underscored the potential of blockchain technology to revolutionise governance by making public services more transparent, efficient, and accountable. It called for the scaling up of blockchain applications across various states and departments, suggesting the exploration of onboarding new applications, platforms, and innovative components onto the NBF stack.

A Strategic Step Towards a National Blockchain Framework (NBF)

The National Blockchain Framework (NBF), envisioned by MeitY, aims to establish secure, trusted, and transparent digital platforms for citizen-centric applications. The NBF technology stack is built with a distributed infrastructure incorporating core framework functionalities such as smart contracts, an API gateway, security, privacy, interoperability, and application development, all provided as Blockchain-as-a-Service.

Currently, the framework supports two permissioned blockchain platforms and is designed to be extensible. The technology stack is hosted across geographically distributed NIC data centres located in Bhubaneswar, Pune, and Hyderabad.

Vishvasya Blockchain as-a-service (BaaS)

Vishvasya, the National Blockchain Technology Stack, facilitates enabling trust by developing new types of distributed software architectures capable of finding consensus on their shared states and providing a single source of truth. Through its BaaS architecture, Vishvasya will provide security and assurance of various Blockchain components across the stack. It envisions reducing the need for human resources skills by offering technological support to organisations that are building Blockchain-based applications.

Blockchain Sandbox for Startups and Academia

The NBFLite platform under the Blockchain Technology Stack will offer a blockchain sandbox environment tailored explicitly for startups and academic institutions, facilitating rapid prototyping, research, and capacity building. These technological advancements have been made possible through the collaboration of C-DAC, NIC, IDRBT Hyderabad, IIT Hyderabad, IIIT Hyderabad, and SETS Chennai, under MeitY’s support.

During the launch event, Shri S. Krishnan emphasised that the National Blockchain Framework would enhance security, trust, and transparency in various citizen-centric applications. He urged stakeholders to position India as a global leader in blockchain technology and to promote the developed solutions for worldwide adoption, leveraging blockchain to drive economic growth, social development, and digital empowerment.

Addressing Challenges and Paving the Way for Innovation

Ms Sunita Verma, Scientist G and Group Coordinator, R&D in Electronics & IT, MeitY, highlighted the NBF’s objective to develop an extensible framework with a blockchain technology stack on a distributed infrastructure. She opinioned that this initiative addresses challenges such as the need for skilled manpower for building blockchain-based applications, vendor lock-in, and research challenges related to security, interoperability, and performance.

Shri Magesh E, Director General of C-DAC, noted that the NBF is a collaborative effort to address research challenges and harness the benefits of blockchain technology to develop applications in association with government organisations. This initiative has already generated numerous patents and research publications.