A.P. CM to launch blockchain-based land records system on July 23
The Andhra Pradesh government launched a pilot blockchain-based land records system, "Mee Bhoomi-Blockchain," on July 23, developed jointly by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) Andhra Pradesh unit and the NIC Bengaluru Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology.
The pilot covers select mandals across seven districts, aiming to integrate land-related records currently maintained separately by multiple departments (revenue, registration, survey) into a single reliable database.
The system uses the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain framework to assign a unique, tamper-evident blockchain identity to every land parcel, with each subsequent transaction recorded as a permanent, traceable digital entry.
In its initial phase the platform covers about 89 re-surveyed villages and roughly 1.37 lakh land parcel maps, offering eight citizen services including auto-mutation, subdivision, and extent correction.
Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP)
DILRMP is the central umbrella scheme for computerising and modernising India's land records system, aimed at building an Integrated Land Information Management System that reduces land disputes, curbs fraudulent transactions, and eliminates the need for physical visits to revenue and registration offices. It was converted into a 100%-centrally-funded Central Sector Scheme from April 1, 2016.
Key Details
- Core DILRMP components include modern record rooms, cadastral re-survey, digitisation of maps (Field Measurement Books/FMBs, tippans), computerisation of the registration process, and GIS-based core software applications.
- The programme's flagship identifier is the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN), popularly called "Bhu-Aadhaar" — a 14-digit alphanumeric code generated from a parcel's geo-coordinates, compliant with international geospatial standards (Open Geospatial Consortium) and implemented across most states/UTs.
- DILRMP is administered by the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development.
Andhra Pradesh's blockchain pilot builds on this national land-digitisation push, applying a distributed-ledger layer on top of digitised, re-surveyed parcel data to make each record tamper-evident, a step beyond simple digitisation toward record integrity guarantees.
Blockchain Technology and Land Titling
Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology in which data (here, land transaction records) is stored across a network of nodes in cryptographically linked blocks, making retrospective alteration of any single record computationally impractical without consensus across the network. Hyperledger Fabric, the framework used in this pilot, is a permissioned blockchain platform (participants must be authorised) commonly used in government and enterprise applications, as opposed to public/permissionless blockchains.
Key Details
- In land administration, blockchain is used to create an immutable, chronologically ordered history of a parcel's ownership and transactions, addressing the problem of forged or backdated documents in conventional paper/database records.
- It does not by itself resolve title disputes arising from pre-existing defective records — it secures the integrity of records going forward, which is why it is typically paired with a fresh survey/resurvey exercise (as done here across 89 villages).
The pilot's core innovation is applying Hyperledger Fabric to guarantee that once a land parcel record is entered after resurvey, its transaction history (mutation, subdivision, extent correction) cannot be silently altered.
Presumptive vs Conclusive Land Titling in India
India's land registration has traditionally followed a "presumptive title" system under the Registration Act, 1908, where registering a sale deed only records the transaction and does not itself guarantee ownership; disputes are resolved through civil courts based on chain-of-title evidence. Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, have moved toward "conclusive titling" laws that shift to a state-guaranteed title system, similar in principle to the Torrens system used in Australia and parts of the United Kingdom.
Key Details
- The Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act (enacted 2022, notified in the state gazette in 2023) provides for a Title Registration method intended to serve as conclusive proof of title, replacing simple deed registration, along with a dedicated Andhra Pradesh Land Authority to prepare tentative title records and a special adjudication mechanism for disputes.
- As of the Act's notification, implementation rules were still being framed, and the conclusive-titling system had not yet come fully into force.
- NITI Aayog has separately circulated a model law for states on conclusive land titling, of which several state-level laws (including Andhra Pradesh's) are adaptations.
The blockchain pilot and the state's broader land-titling law reform serve the same underlying goal — moving from a "presumption of ownership" system prone to disputes toward a technologically and legally guaranteed record of title.
- Launch date of the "Mee Bhoomi-Blockchain" pilot: July 23.
- Districts covered in the pilot: 7; villages covered in the first phase: 89 re-surveyed villages.
- Land parcel maps covered in phase one: approximately 1,37,763.
- Citizen services offered initially: 8, including auto-mutation, subdivision, and extent correction.
- Blockchain framework used: Hyperledger Fabric (permissioned distributed ledger).
- DILRMP became a 100% centrally funded Central Sector Scheme: effective April 1, 2016.
- ULPIN/"Bhu-Aadhaar": 14-digit alphanumeric geo-coordinate-based land parcel identifier under DILRMP.
- Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act: enacted 2022, gazette notification 2023; implementation rules pending as of notification.