Decentralized Land Registration System (DLRS)

Overview

The Decentralized Land Registration System (DLRS) is an enterprise-grade blockchain platform designed to migrate national land records to a permissioned distributed ledger.

Traditional land registry systems suffer from:

• Record tampering
• Lack of transparent provenance
• Double-spending of real estate assets
• Centralized points of failure

DLRS solves these problems by anchoring a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) to physical GPS coordinates and storing ownership records on Hyperledger Fabric.

This ensures:

• Cryptographic proof of ownership
• Immutable transaction history
• Transparent lineage tracking for land mutations

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Project Information

Attribute	Value
Repository	Land-Registration-Using-Blockchain
Author	PR Project
GitHub	BitForge95
Year	2026
License	Apache 2.0

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Architecture

The system follows a full-stack decentralized application architecture.

User (Citizen / Admin)
        |
        v
React Frontend
        |
        v
Spring Boot REST API
        |
        v
Hyperledger Fabric Gateway SDK
        |
        v
Hyperledger Fabric Network
        |
        v
Peer Nodes + CouchDB State Database
        |
        v
IPFS (Off-chain document storage)

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Technology Stack

Blockchain Layer

• Hyperledger Fabric v2.5
• Consensus: Raft (Crash Fault Tolerant)
• Smart Contracts: Java Chaincode

Backend

• Spring Boot (Java 17)
• REST API
• Fabric Gateway SDK

Frontend

• React.js

Databases

• CouchDB (for rich JSON queries)

Off-chain Storage

• IPFS (document storage using CID)

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Blockchain Network Topology

The Fabric network simulates a government-grade deployment model.

Component	Configuration
Organizations	2
Org1	Ministry of Rural Development
Org2	State Revenue Department
Peers	1 Peer per Organization
Orderers	3 Raft Orderer Nodes
Channel	landchannel
State Database	CouchDB

This configuration ensures crash fault tolerance and distributed governance.

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Repository Structure

Land-Registration-Using-Blockchain
│
├── chaincode
│   └── Smart contract implementation (Java)
│
├── blockchain-network
│   └── Fabric network configuration
│   └── Docker compose files
│
├── backend-api
│   └── Spring Boot REST API
│
├── frontend-ui
│   └── React application
│
└── docs
    └── Architecture diagrams

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Smart Contract (Chaincode)

The LandRegistryContract implements the core business logic of the land registry system.

Implemented Functions

Function	Description
initLedger	Initializes the ledger with genesis data
createLandAsset	Registers a new land asset
transferLandOwnership	Transfers ownership to another entity

Upcoming Functions

Function	Description
mutateLand	Handles land splits or merges
queryLandByUlpin	Fetches the current land state
getLandHistory	Retrieves immutable ownership history

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Land Asset Data Model

Each land parcel is represented by a LandAsset object stored on the ledger.

Field	Description
ulpin	Unique Land Parcel Identification Number
ownerAadhaarHash	Privacy-preserving owner identifier
gpsCoordinates	Geographic anchor for the land
documentCid	IPFS content identifier for land documents
status	ACTIVE / RETIRED_MUTATED
parentUlpin	Parent parcel identifier for lineage tracking

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Key Features

Implemented Features

• Land registration with duplicate prevention
• Secure ownership transfer
• IPFS-based document verification
• Permissioned blockchain governance

Core Blockchain Properties

• Immutable transaction history
• Tamper-resistant records
• Distributed trust across organizations
• Parent-child lineage tracking for land mutation

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Development Environment Setup

Prerequisites

Install the following tools:

• Java 17
• Docker
• Docker Compose
• Git

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Ubuntu / Debian Setup

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y openjdk-17-jdk docker.io docker-compose git

Set Java environment variables:

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

Verify installation:

java -version

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Running the Blockchain Network

Navigate to the network directory:

cd blockchain-network

Start the Fabric test network:

./network.sh up createChannel -c landchannel -ca

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Building the Smart Contract

Navigate to the chaincode directory:

cd chaincode/land-contract-java

Build using the Gradle wrapper:

./gradlew build

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Troubleshooting

Unsupported Class File Major Version

This error occurs if Java 17 is not active.

Fix it by setting:

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

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Future Improvements

• Land mutation engine (split / merge)
• GIS map integration
• Government identity verification
• Multi-state channel federation
• Mobile application for citizens
• Zero-knowledge Aadhaar validation

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Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a new branch

git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

3. Commit your changes
4. Submit a Pull Request

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License

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

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Acknowledgments

This project explores blockchain-based governance systems for land administration, inspired by initiatives such as:

• Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)
• National ULPIN initiative

The goal is to demonstrate how permissioned blockchain infrastructure can enhance transparency, security, and trust in land ownership systems.