Blockchain-Based Transferable Digital Rights of Land
Ras Dwivedi, Sumit Patel, Sandeep Shukla
TL;DR
The paper addresses how to finance urban land development by tokenizing Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) as blockchain-based digital rights. It presents a private Quorum-based architecture where DRCs are minted as ERC721 NFTs with IPFS-stored land details, backed by development authorities, and supported by a split on-chain/off-chain data architecture for privacy and efficiency. The approach enables transparent transfer, traceability, and automated verification of development rights, with an Aadhaar-linked identity framework and a secure key-management system to support recovery. It offers a practical blueprint for a land-rights marketplace, demonstrates lifecycle management from generation to utilization, and outlines future enhancements such as an on-chain marketplace and contract performance optimizations.
Abstract
Land, being a scarce and valuable resource, is in high demand, especially in densely populated areas of older cities. Development authorities require land for infrastructure projects and other amenities, while landowners hold onto their land for both its usage and its financial value. Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) serve as a mechanism to separate the development rights associated with the land from the physical land itself. Development authorities acquire the land by offering compensation in the form of TDRs, which hold monetary value. In this paper, we present the tokenization of development rights, focusing on the implementation in collaboration with a development authority. While there have been previous implementations of land tokenization, we believe our approach is the first to tokenize development rights specifically. Our implementation addresses practical challenges related to record-keeping, ground verification of land, and the unique identification of stakeholders. We ensure the accurate evaluation of development rights by incorporating publicly available circle rates, which consider the ground development of the land and its surrounding areas.