Indian Railways Unveils NFT Train Tickets for Holi Festival

Credit: Indian Railways

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) just announced the launch of non-fungible token tickets for two of its semi-high-speed trains.

Between March 20th and April 2nd during the Hindu festival Holi, NFT train tickets for two Delhi-bound trains (Tejas Express 82501 and 82502) will be available for passengers to purchase. According to the report, the NFTs, which are personalized and verifiable on the blockchain, will celebrate the “rich cultural tapestry” of the cities of Delhi and Lucknow.

Holi is a two-day celebration in India that welcomes the arrival of spring. Also known as the festival of colors, it is a time where Hindus across the country drop their inhibitions, dance, party, throw colored dyes into the air, and welcome a new beginning.

The NFTs are being launched on the Hyperledger blockchain in collaboration with NFTtrace, a Web3 digitization platform that will assist in maintaining records of purchases. Besides being digital keepsakes that commemorate India’s rich culture, the NFT tickets will also prevent the sale of forged tickets, which is a significant problem in the country.

Although the initiative is only being rolled out for two trains during a limited time, the IRCTC has a huge customer base, with over 1.2 million tickets sold daily. If the digital tickets are successful and the program is expanded, it could onboard millions into the NFT space.

India may not be in Web3 news as much as some other Asian countries; however, it is beginning to look more and more bullish on the use of nascent technologies. Earlier this month, the country revealed that it hosts millions of government-issued documents on five blockchains run by India’s National Informatics Centre.

NFT Tickets on the Rise

The IRCTC’s most recent initiative to issue NFT tickets for two popular trains is exciting news for Web3 fans and travelers in the Southeast Asian country. But this certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen NFTs being used as tickets.

At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered dozens of stories about companies, brands, and sports leagues issuing NFT tickets. Here are some of the top headlines:

NFT tickets have several advantages over traditional tickets. Because they are traceable on the blockchain, they cannot be forged or scalped for higher prices — which are major problems in the ticketing industry. They can also be resold on the blockchain or used as digital collectibles that show proof-of-attendance.

We’ll have to wait to see if the NFT tickets from the IRCTC are popular with travelers. But if they are, it wouldn’t be surprising if the initiative is expanded to serve the millions of customers that travel by train in India. If that happens, it could be a big win for Web3 and NFTs in general.