Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has urged the government to put all land and property records in India on Blockchain, arguing that a blockchain-based land registry would ensure faster resolution of property disputes and strengthen property tax compliance, among other benefits.
“Land records in India are in total chaos. Ordinary citizens are forced to run from pillar to post at the registry offices while dalals and middlemen hijack the system,” said an Aam Aadmi Party MP during a budget debate in the upper house of parliament on February 9.
He further explained that the adoption of blockchain could solve long-standing problems such as abuse of circular rates for cash transactions, ongoing property tax evasion, increasing cases of fake documents and encroachments, and endless disputes over land ownership.
Citing available data, Chadha noted that land-related issues account for about 66% of civil disputes in India, with an average resolution time of seven years, although he did not disclose the source of these statistics.
Chadha raises questions about current land sale practices
Raghav Chadha questioned India’s current land sale system, pointing to deep-seated structural problems that he says continue to affect property ownership, registration and dispute resolution.
Citing other figures, he noted that 45% of properties do not have a clear title and 48% are already in dispute. He said India ranks 133rd out of 190 in the efficiency of real estate registration, adding that even a simple sale of a property can take two to six months. Besides, about 6.2 million property documents are still waiting to be digitized, Chadha said.
Chadha calls for national blockchain registry
Acknowledging the systemic issues, Chadha tabled a motion in parliament to create a national blockchain property registry, pointing out that countries such as Sweden, Georgia and the United Arab Emirates have already shown what is possible with such technology. Transactions can close in minutes and dispute rates are plummeting, he said.
He said such a system would be time-stamped, tamper-proof, fully transparent, allow instant title verification and clean real-time tracking of every sale, mutation and inheritance.
“India needs to move from chaos to clarity. From a land registration system that creates obstacles to a system that prevents them,” he said.
In line with these efforts to modernize India’s real estate ecosystem, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also proposed allowing banks to lend to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), an expected move to lower funding costs, support long-term growth and potentially increase returns for shareholders.
