Niti Aayog to bring blockchain technology for drug industry

HYDERABAD: Niti Aayog is working with Apollo Hospitals and information technology major Oracle on applying blockchain (decentralized) technology in pharmaceutical supply chain management to detect spurious drugs, Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said here on Friday.

Addressing a gathering through video-conferencing at the inaugural session of International Blockchain Congress 2018 for which Niti Aayog was a co-host, Kant said the organization was working on applying the blockchain technology to pressing problems of the country in areas such as land registry, health records, and fertilizer subsidy distribution m among others.

"There is a need to use blockchain to track and trace medicines and spurious drugs. Therefore, Niti Aayog, in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals and Oracle, is putting pharmaceutical supply chain in blockchain for complete traceability of drugs from manufacturer to consumer to protect our citizens from the menace of spurious medicines," he said.

The agency was working with judiciary too to see the civil cases related to land registration and mutation were expedited, he added.

"The government has to play a leading role in allowing the application of blockchain technology. As the government, we need to make it easier to apply blockchain in pressing areas such as disbursement, land records, health records. Countries around the world had to improve and change the legal system to make themselves use blockchain technology," Kant said.

Emerging technologies such as blockchain technology were key drivers for ease of doing business and were essential for a free market, he added.

State Minister for IT and Industries KT Ramarao, Tech Mahindra Chief Executive Officer CP Gurnani and CEO of Nucleus Vision Abhishek Pitti also spoke.

The valedictory function of the International Blockchain Congress would be held in Goa on August 5.