Arya.ag, one of India’s largest agricultural warehousing companies, has deployed a dedicated blockchain network to record information associated with approximately $2 billion worth of crops stored at its facilities. The initiative is intended to give lenders a shared and more reliable method for verifying agricultural commodities pledged as collateral for loans.

Built using Avalanche technology, the network records grain deposits, electronic warehouse receipts and loan-related information. Nandan Nilekani, the Infosys co-founder who also played a leading role in India’s Aadhaar identity program, announced the initiative at the Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai.

The blockchain is designed to allow participating lenders to check whether pledged crops exist, whether they have already been used as collateral and how much debt remains outstanding. The system addresses an information gap in warehouse-backed agricultural lending, where records can be distributed across separate systems operated by warehouses and financial institutions.

Farmers who store grain in regulated warehouses can receive electronic negotiable warehouse receipts, known as e-NWRs. These receipts can be used to secure financing while farmers wait for more favorable market prices rather than selling their commodities immediately. Arya.ag’s shared ledger is intended to consolidate information about stored commodities, existing claims and outstanding loans, allowing participating lenders to verify collateral through a common system.

The blockchain does not replace the physical grain or transfer ownership of agricultural commodities. The grain remains in warehouses, while the legally recognized e-NWR continues to serve as the financing instrument.

Three banks expected to join the network

The dedicated layer-1 blockchain operates separately from Avalanche’s main public networks. Its operating rules can be tailored to financial institutions, warehouse operators and regulated lending records.

Devika Mittal, Ava Labs’ India head, said the network is currently operated by Arya.ag and is expected eventually to accommodate other warehouse companies. She also indicated that banks beyond the initial participants could join the system.

Three major banks are expected to join the network, although their names have not been disclosed. Arya.ag and Ava Labs have not provided details about the amount of collateral or lending activity already recorded on the blockchain.

Transaction volumes, network capacity, smart-contract addresses and blockchain explorer information have not been publicly released. Financial terms between Arya.ag and Ava Labs were also not disclosed.

Claims that the blockchain will lead to faster approvals, lower operating costs or broader access to agricultural credit remain unproven. The companies have not published comparisons showing changes in processing times, expenses or loan approval rates.

Network builds on Arya.ag’s lending operations

Arya.ag’s existing lending business provides context for the initiative. The company facilitates approximately $1.3 billion in agricultural loans annually, while its non-bank financial subsidiary, Arya Dhan, directly issues about $230 million.

The broader lending activity involves banks and other financial institutions that finance commodities stored in facilities managed by Arya.ag. Lenders assess factors including grain quantity, quality, market value and whether the commodities have already been pledged.

According to figures associated with the announcement, Arya.ag serves an estimated 850,000 to 900,000 farmers and operates or leases around 12,000 warehouses. Earlier company disclosures cited different annual figures for grain and lending because they covered different measurement periods. The amount of grain handled during a year can be higher than the value of crops held in warehouses at any particular time.

Arya.ag has previously used artificial intelligence for grain-quality assessments, along with satellite monitoring and storage sensors. Those technologies have supported its lending processes independently of the new blockchain infrastructure.

Finternet framework supports shared financial records

The initiative is also connected to the broader Finternet concept developed by Nilekani and Agustín Carstens, a former general manager of the Bank for International Settlements and former governor of the Bank of Mexico.

BREAKING: India is bringing agricultural credit to Avalanche, unlocking a new layer of access for millions of farmers Together with @finternet_org , Arya․ag is bringing agricultural financing infrastructure onchain, alongside 4-5 major lenders including Singularity Credit and… pic.twitter.com/5sb10u49SK — Avalanche (@avax) September 10, 2026

A 2024 BIS working paper described Finternet as a model in which interconnected financial ecosystems use common technical and institutional standards, including tokenization and shared ledgers. The framework emphasizes interoperability, verification, programmability, settlement finality, scalability, privacy and governance.

For Arya.ag, the framework is intended to help establish how lenders and warehouse operators communicate and exchange information. It does not represent a new financial regulation or a binding BIS operating standard.

Project targets India’s agricultural credit gap

The project comes as India continues to face challenges in providing farmers with affordable formal credit. Warehouse-backed financing is intended to allow farmers to borrow against stored crops instead of selling commodities immediately when prices are unfavorable.

By creating a shared record of warehouse deposits and financing claims, Arya.ag aims to reduce uncertainty for lenders and make agricultural collateral easier to verify across participating institutions.

The company has not announced a timetable for expanding the network to other warehouse operators. It also has not disclosed when the three participating banks will begin processing loans through the system or when transaction-level blockchain data will become publicly available.

The initial deployment therefore represents a technology and infrastructure test rather than evidence of measurable improvements in lending costs or approval times. Its longer-term significance will depend on adoption by banks and warehouses, the reliability of shared records and whether the network can improve access to warehouse-backed financing at scale.

Source: CoinTrust