India’s digital transformation could soon move beyond payments into digital ownership, with blockchain-based tokenisation opening new opportunities for participation in high-value assets such as real estate. Maharashtra IT Minister Ashish Shelar said responsible tokenisation could lower entry barriers, improve transparency and make real-world assets more accessible, particularly to younger Indians.
Speaking at the Mumbai launch of The Box by RealX and MST Blockchain, in partnership with Liminal Custody, Shelar drew parallels with India’s success in building digital public infrastructure such as UPI. The next opportunity, he said, is creating trusted infrastructure around ownership and productive assets.
Real estate has traditionally required substantial capital while involving complex documentation, opaque processes and limited liquidity. Tokenisation could potentially divide clearly defined economic or ownership rights into secure digital units, enabling broader participation while creating verifiable transaction records.
However, Shelar cautioned that technology alone cannot create trust. Tokenised assets need legal enforceability, transparent disclosures, cybersecurity, reliable custody, sound governance and strong investor protection. A token, he stressed, cannot become a mechanism for circumventing existing laws.
The development assumes greater significance as Maharashtra explores its proposed Digitisation and Exchange of Land Token Asset (DELTA) framework, aimed at creating an architecture around tokenisation of land and other immovable assets.
The Box brings together technology, asset rights and custody infrastructure. Its REDbox and WHITEbox platforms target different areas of the real-world asset ecosystem, with REDbox enabling developers to introduce tokenised property offerings through their own brands and platforms.
The larger opportunity goes beyond digitising property. Tokenisation could potentially transform how assets are owned, accessed, transferred and financed. But its success will ultimately depend on trust.
As India demonstrated with digital payments, technology reaches population scale when innovation, regulation and public confidence move together. The next digital revolution may therefore be not merely about moving money instantly—but democratising ownership responsibly.
