Indian Railways To Offer NFT Travel Tickets

Non-fungible tokens have started regaining adoption, with businesses, institutions, and national agencies embracing blockchain technology to revolutionize services

Non-fungible tokens have started regaining adoption, with businesses, institutions, and national agencies embracing blockchain technology to revolutionize services and delivery. In a recent incident, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has announced plans to use the non-fungible token technology to offer tokenized travel tickets. The IRCTC has partnered with Chaincode Consulting Agencies to offer travel tickets.

Indian Railways To Offer NFT Travel Tickets

In a January 13 blog post, Chaincode Consulting confirmed that they have partnered with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation to create non-fungible token-based train travel tickets. The creation of NFT train travel tickets is part of the broader preparation for the upcoming historic Mahakumbh Mela event. The upcoming NFT train tickets, powered by the Polygon blockchain network, will be managed by a digital asset management platform called NFTrace.

Indian Railways partners with Chaincode Consulting to issue #NFT-based train tickets on Polygon blockchain for the historic MahaKumbh Mela festival, occurring once every 144 years.

— Dr Martin Hiesboeck (@MHiesboeck) January 14, 2025

Mahakumbh Mela is a highly regarded religious gathering in India that is expected to attract more than 450 million visitors. The event has both cultural and spiritual significance in the country. Moreover, the upcoming Mahakumbh Mela is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This religious gathering happens every 144 years, drawing pilgrims from across the globe.

The Indian Railway’s decision to issue tokenized train travel tickets for the Mahakumbh Mela is part of its broader plans to integrate the burgeoning blockchain technology into its services. Earlier last year, the Indian Railway integrated blockchain technology to offer similar train travel tickets for the Holi Festival. The adoption of NFTs in India reflects increased adoption of the NFT technology across different regions.

Even though the Indian government has remained adamant about cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin, its Reserve Bank recently emphasized the potential use case of blockchain technology to revitalize services. Integrating blockchain into a large-scale event like the Mahakumbh Mela is part of a broader trend in India to explore the use of technology in public services and traditional practices.

The adoption of NFTs by Indian Railways appeared just several days after Jeju Island, an autonomous province of South Korea located in the East China Sea, adopted the NFT technology to offer tokenized tourist cards. These NFT cards offered tourists exclusive discounts, travel subsidies, and other benefits. The South Korean tropical paradise anticipated attracting millennial and Gen Z tourists with these unique, non-fungible token-powered “visitors’ cards.”

🚨 JUST IN: South Korea’s Jeju Island is stepping into the future! The popular tourist destination is reportedly launching #NFT tourist cards to attract more visitors, especially from the younger generation. 🌐✨ Would you collect one? 🏝️ #NFTs #TravelInnovation pic.twitter.com/FbJU7Ploqf

— DeFi Planet (@PlanetDefi) January 6, 2025

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