It’s boom time for blockchain courses in India

Job postings grew 37% year-on-year in 2021 and 138% in the three years from August 2018, the job search platform actually reported in August 2021, according to a report.

The demand for this job among Indian software developers has increased by 76% annually.

In anticipation of strong demand, edtech platforms, colleges and even major institutions in India are launching blockchain-related courses.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, for example, is set to launch a blockchain innovation center on its premises.

Prabhu Rajagopal, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT-Madras, said, “Faculty members from different departments like Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mechanics and Computer Science Engineering are coming together to create an inter-departmental center.

The program will be supported by an Indian crypto exchange, which will host blockchain summits, assist in blockchain development fellowships and fund research.

The center, Rajagopal said, would not only work in research but also explore developing products for the industry. “We will look at these products in terms of special relevance in the Indian market, where IT hardware has not penetrated much, and while network coverage is increasing, bandwidth remains limited. We will focus on working on them using blockchain technology, “he added.

Rajagopal said the center would work on a hub-and-spoke model. For example, interested companies may fund a hub where professors will lead research initiatives. Students working in these research areas will then move on to Hub to create product and solutions tailored to the core needs of the sponsoring organization.

More such centers could open up, boost jobs in India. In September 2021, a report by industry body Nasscom and the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX estimated that by 2030, more than 800,000 jobs could be created in blockchain and other web3-related fields in India. In January 2022, a market report by Linkedin stated that in the United States, job opportunities in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors increased by 395% year on year in 2021, surpassing job growth in the overall technology sector.

Adtech platforms say that early signs of increasing demand for blockchain-related jobs in India can already be seen. According to Byju-owned Great Learning, the startup has seen an average growth rate of 129% every six months since launching courses around the blockchain in July 2020.

Arjun Mohan, CEO of online education platform Upgrade, says the company has seen a 50% increase in demand for blockchain-related courses over the past year and a similar increase in revenue from these courses.

Upgrade launched its first blockchain course in 2018 “We’re seeing more and more high-value courses in the new enrollment, and revenue from these courses has grown almost 100% in the last year,” he noted.

According to Mohan, the increase in demand for these courses is usually associated with an increase in job opportunities, and the initial recipients are mostly developers who work in the field of conventional or inherited technology to improve themselves. However, he added that blockchain courses are still responsible for less than 10% of the total revenue from upgrades, suggesting that the opportunities for blockchain development are not yet fully expanded.

IIT-Madras, on its part, seeks to establish alumni-led Diptech funding initiatives to support student projects in blockchain development and quantum computing, among others. According to Rajagopal, such funding efforts could drive the application of blockchain technology in the Indian context, which would lead to job growth.

Instead, it will further increase interest among students and professionals, leading to the flourishing of a growing industry.