In a significant move towards enhancing digital efficiency and transparency, the Indian Army has introduced a new blockchain-powered Vendor Registration Application. This platform is designed to streamline and safeguard the registration process for suppliers of dry rations.
Leveraging blockchain technology, the platform ensures a secure, tamper-resistant, and transparent process for vendor registration. It enables vendors to complete registrations online, monitor their application status in real time, and even raise queries—all digitally and without the delays associated with traditional paperwork. The initiative also expands vendor inclusion, encouraging participation from startups and small enterprises in the Army’s supply ecosystem.
The Indian Army operates one of the country’s largest and most intricate supply chains, particularly in challenging environments such as forward bases, high-altitude posts, and during emergency logistics operations. By implementing blockchain in its vendor registration process, the Army demonstrates how mission-critical institutions are beginning to embrace digital tools that offer enhanced transparency, traceability, and operational efficiency.
“By leveraging blockchain technology, the portal revolutionises the vendor registration process by replacing the traditional time consuming manual procedures involving multiple layers of physical verification, paperworks and follow ups with a fully online automated platform. The application offers a new era of transparency and simplifies ease of doing business with minimal human intervention,” the Indian Army wrote in an X post.
The initiative is significant for the Indian Armed Forces, which has a strength of over 1.4 million active personnel, making it the world’s second-largest military force. It is the world’s largest volunteer army, with the third-largest defense budget in the world. The Indian Armed Forces comprise three main professional branches: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.
The Army Purchase Organisation (APO), which is responsible for the annual procurement of dry rations worth approximately Rs 14,000 crore (about $1.68 billion) annually, will now benefit from this digital overhaul. The blockchain-based system will offer a secure and digitised solution for the APO vendors’ registration process, replacing the earlier manual, paper-intensive procedures. This transformation accelerates processing and enhances business convenience by reducing the need for human involvement and minimizing bureaucratic hurdles.
‘Blockchain for serious infrastructure use in India’
The Indian Army’s initiative reflects the country’s commitment to adopting emerging technologies within public sector operations, while representing a significant transformation in its approach to supply chain management. By shifting from conventional, paperwork-intensive methods to a digital, blockchain-based system, the Army is modernizing its logistics and paving the way for broader adoption of such technologies across other government and defense sectors.
“This is a strong signal that blockchain is maturing from buzzword to backbone. The Indian Army’s initiative shows that real-world problems—like vendor onboarding, fraud prevention, and operational delays—can be solved with responsible blockchain architecture,” Rohan Sharan, founder of Timechain Labs, told CoinGeek. India’s Timechain Labs has been educating developers and channeling talent into the BSV blockchain ecosystem.
“Defense logistics is complex and high-stakes. If blockchain can simplify procurement and improve auditability in such a critical environment, it sets a strong precedent for other public institutions. The goal isn’t decentralization for its own sake—it’s trust, traceability, and efficiency,” Sharan added.
The move helps reframe blockchain as a reliable, scalable, and regulation-aligned solution, away from its association with speculative ‘cryptocurrency’ markets. The adoption boosts trust in blockchain’s enterprise use and sets the stage for broader implementation across different sectors, including healthcare, defense procurement, logistics, and digital identity systems.
“For until now, most government engagement with blockchain in India has been at the state government level (land records, public welfare schemes) or in pilot projects. With the Indian Army adopting blockchain for vendor registration, it clearly signals that core, mission-critical institutions are recognizing its benefits in transparency, traceability, and process efficiency. This, in turn, helps position blockchain as a secure, scalable, and regulation-compliant technology, distancing it from the speculative reputation of crypto markets,” Raj Kapoor, founder of India Blockchain Alliance, told CoinGeek.
“By integrating blockchain into vendor registration, which is the first point of supply chain, it reduces paperwork, reduces corruption and vendor manipulation risks, enables real-time verification and traceability, enhances auditability and compliance. This marks a modernization of defense logistics infrastructure, where secure, tamper-proof records can directly impact operational readiness,” Kapoor added.
India’s leadership in integrating blockchain at such a strategic level strengthens its voice in global conversations on blockchain governance, particularly in the context of the G20’s digital economy initiatives. It sends a strong message that blockchain is being recognized in India as a foundational infrastructure technology, rather than merely a tool for private digital currency transactions.
Kapoor said that this development may prompt other defense branches, such as the Indian Navy, Air Force, and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), to consider similar innovations. Likewise, civilian ministries overseeing large-scale public tenders—such as those for railways, food distribution, and e-auctions—are likely to observe this rollout closely as a reference model. Over time, this could pave the way for national blockchain standards in public procurement and logistics management.
“There are broader implications as now it builds institutional confidence in blockchain’s enterprise applications, which in turn, accelerate other public sector blockchain deployments (logistics, healthcare, defence procurement, digital identity). It also strengthens India’s positioning in the global blockchain governance conversations (especially ahead of the G20 digital economy agenda follow-ups) and it’s a strong endorsement that blockchain is here for serious infrastructure use in India, not just private crypto trading,” Kapoor added.
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Source: https://coingeek.com/indian-army-adopts-blockchain-to-boost-vendor-transparency/