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Blockchain protocol Algorand announced on Wednesday its entry into the Indian market with the launch of AlgoBharat – a project that aims to support India's transformation from the "back office of the Web2 world to the innovation hub of the Web3 world."
Algorand's India plan is broken up into three pillars: broadening the Web3 developer base through education and events at universities, focusing on startups that are transitioning from Web2 to Web3, and focusing on high-profile use case partnerships with the central and state governments, according to a report by Coindesk.
Algorand has already announced partnerships with the state of Maharashtra to create 100 million non-fungible tokens (NFT) to store personal health data, with the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) to support women-led enterprises building blockchain solutions, with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and the Indian School of Business to launch faculty development programs, and with T-Hub, a prominent innovation hub.
"Blockchain use cases that have the greatest real-world utility are happening here in India," Anil Kakani, vice president and India country head at Algorand Foundation, told Coindesk.
Appointed to the role in December 2022, Kanani brings two decades of experience in policy, technology and finance. He was previously involved in investment banking, cross border M&A, and capital raising, and was a senior advisor for India at the US Treasury, and a legislative assistant to Senator Hillary Clinton.
While AlgoBharat will not have a registered entity in India, a dedicated team will focus on real-world utility for blockchain in India, with relevance for the rest of the world.
The Algorand Foundation plans to engage with regulators this year, with a track record of working with the National Bank of Italy and the Marshall Islands CBDC project. India's position on crypto has evolved from the central bank attempting to ban the industry's access to financial services to a stiff tax regimen in 2022.
Currently, India is pushing for global consensus on rules for crypto assets as the President of the Group of 20 nations (G-20).
Related: India Aims Global Rupee Trade; Signs CBDC Deal With UAE
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