Key Highlights
- The proposal seeks to replace traditional manual record-keeping with a digital ledger to curb fraud and middleman interference in the property sector.
- By digitizing property titles on blockchain, the initiative aims to resolve India’s backlog of land litigation, with 66% of civil disputes linked to unclear ownership.
During a Rajya Sabha session today, Raghav Chadha, a Member of Parliament for the Aam Aadmi Party from Punjab, proposed a national blockchain-based registry for all land and property records in India. The proposal came during discussions on the Union Budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, led by Deputy Chairman Shri Harivansh and attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Chadha emphasized modernizing India’s real estate system using decentralized tech to reduce corruption and reliance on middlemen. He suggested a phased roll-out, starting with ten major metropolitan and tier 2 cities, before a national-level implementation.
Securing middle-class wealth
Chadha noted that blockchain would ensure all property transactions, mutations, and inheritance records are maintained digitally, securely, and transparently. This change aims to provide instant title verification, cut the time for property transactions from months to minutes, and better protect the wealth of the middle class by making it easier to use property for loans.
During his speech, Raghav Chadha said, “Today, there is utter chaos in our real estate and land property record market. Chaos because people are being pushed around outside the registrar’s office, and middlemen have completely taken over those offices.”
Targeting criminal activities
Chadha explained the specific criminal activities caused by the lack of a transparent system, such as property tax evasion and the involvement of “black money” in real estate transactions.
“Property tax is stolen, circle rates are exploited to buy properties in cash, and there are fake documents, illegal occupations, and title disputes,” Chadha stated. He proposed a “blockchain-based land registry ledger” that would be “time-stamped, tamper-proof, 100% transparent, and allow for real-time property tracking.”
Resolving land disputes
The push for blockchain in governance comes as India faces a huge amount of litigation over land ownership. According to Chadha, “66% of India’s civil disputes are land disputes” and “45% of properties lack a clear title in India.”
This confusion has major economic implications in the sense that infrastructural development and wealth creation are affected. Moreover, currently, India ranks at “133 out of 190 in property registration efficiency,” indicating a long bureaucratic process.
Chadha highlighted that “the average time taken by civil courts to resolve these disputes is seven years,” and about “6.2 crore property documents are pending digitization” in various offices.
Future implications
If the Indian government implements this blockchain proposal, it may change the property sector by making it one of the most efficient globally.
Chadha provided international examples to show the potential for improvement, mentioning Sweden, where property transactions can happen in a single day with a dispute rate of just 2%. He also referred to the UAE, stating, “In the UAE, you can buy or sell your property in 10 minutes, and the dispute rate is less than 1%.”
Improving tax compliance
The implementation of the national registry of blockchains would culminate in improved tax compliance for property taxes and further enhance the concept of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), with more people trusting these investments.
Chadha noted that this move would ensure “the wealth of the middle class will be unlocked because they will be able to borrow money at lower interest rates.”
Blockchain as the ultimate solution
Raghav Chadha concluded his proposal by presenting the blockchain registry as the ultimate solution to the various issues within the Indian land records system. He emphasized that the “National Blockchain Registry” is the “only medicine for all these diseases.”
Though the proposal has been reflected in the budget session, the success of the measure depends upon the government’s priority to invest in the digital infrastructure and the cooperation of the government authorities to bring together the property data in a decentralized manner.
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