Blockchain adoption in India gets major push by Walmart and JP Morgan

After the Reserve Bank of India’s ban on cryptocurrencies, blockchain is picking up steam in India as the country is adapting to other applications of the technology. 

With the recent push by global players, including Walmart and JP Morgan, the technology is on its way to be integrated with the Indian economy. 

Doubling down on food safety initiative, retail giant Walmart would be launching its blockchain-based pilot project to ensure an end to end traceability of the shrimp it sources from Andhra Pradesh. 

These shrimp shipments are sourced for Walmart group’s warehouse retail outlets Sam’s Club. 

The US-based company has been working with IBM to employ a blockchain-based supply chain mechanism with suppliers uploading data at each transaction point on the blockchain network.

Each entity which handled the food products before it reaches retail outlets will be represented via a node on the blockchain, making the supply process transparent and improving traceability of goods exponentially. 

Walmart would be working with AP-based seafood processor Sandhya Aqua and its US-based supplier Stanley Pearlman Enterprises to enable IBM Food Trust’s blockchain solution in shrimp exports. 

The pilot project in Andhra would be first of its kind in India and would boost the seafood exports from the region as the customer’s trust in Indian food supplies increases due to the enhanced traceability. 

Employing another use case of Blockchain technology, multinational investment bank JP Morgan has partnered with seven Indian commercial banks and will onboard them on its blockchain platform

The seven banks including ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank of India, Yes Bank will join JP Morgan’s blockchain Interbank Information Network (IIN) which vastly improves the movement of funds and cross border payments. 

As per Analytics India, IIN may use JP morgan’s native cryptocurrency JPM coin to move funds efficiently by exchanging and verifying transactional data in real-time. 

Speaking to ET, Madhav Kalyan, CEO, JPMorgan Chase Bank, India said that the move will “address the challenges banks face in cross-border payments pertaining to friction points caused by multiple hops through the payment chain when further information is required.”

 The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector are the leader in the adoption of Blockchain Technology in India taking up as much as 60% of the blockchain implementation in the country as per a NASSCOM report.