As per advocate Ganesh Hingmire, the two-time winner of the national IP award established by the Centre's ministry of commerce, geographic identification (GI) for commodities and products from certain geographical locations, including Marathwada, will foster cultural entrepreneurship.
In his remarks as the special guest at the international round-table conference on Monday at the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) in Aurangabad, he claimed that India lagged far behind other nations in obtaining GI tags for things that are emblematic of its extensive and varied cultural heritage.
The latter added that GI tag can be attached to a variety of agricultural products, natural goods, and manufactured goods, among other things. Such a tag can guarantee premium prices for these products, attract global market rates, and increase manufacturers' income.
According to Hingmire, who is credited for helping India achieve the GI tag for a number of agricultural items among other things, the nation has only managed to secure the tag for just 545 products, compared to China's over 9,2000 tags.
The market value of GI products sold in the EU was estimated to be 74.76 billion euros. India has not yet fully realised the lucrative potential of GI products on a global basis, he further added.
GI tags in India
There are overall 432 GI tags in India. The top five states with the most number of GIs are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka. Out of them, 401 of the items are domestically produced, and 31 are imported. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have the most GI tags, followed by Kerala (35), Uttar Pradesh (34), and Maharashtra (31).
In order to promote the promotion of GIs, the government has sanctioned a cost of Rs 75 crore for three years for their advertising at awareness activities.
