K’taka has the highest 42 GI tagged products in the country: Shettar

Bengaluru: Karnataka has the highest 42 Geographical Indication tagged products in the country and the government was making all efforts to popularize and market them, including the opening of pavilions at airports, state Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar said here on Friday.

As per the Government of India’s- The Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, the number of registered Geographical Indications tagged products from Karnataka stands at 42, besides 4 GI logos, Shettar said.

Responding to a question by Congress MLA Abbayya Prasad in the legislative assembly during question hour, he said about 370 products have been registered for Geographical Indication throughout India, of which 42 are from Karnataka, “which is the highest in the country.”

“Agencies have been fixed for all the 42 items for marketing like Karnataka Silk Industry Corporation for Mysore Silk, All India Agarbathi Manufacturers” Association for Mysore Agarbathi,” he said.

The minister said the government was also holding discussions with airport authorities to have a separate pavilion to exhibit the state’s GI tagged products at the international airport, other airports, bus stands and railway stations.

For promotion of these products, the state government was preparing awareness programmes, registration of authorised users and diagnostic study, as per the State Geographical Indications Policy announced in 2019 for promotion of registered Geographical Indications.

He said 398 artisans have been registered as authorised users, 14 awareness programmes have been conducted and seven diagnostic study reports are being prepared. Also, the department of Handlooms and Textiles has taken up a preliminary study of Ilkal sarees, Guledgudda Khana and Molakalmuru sarees, he said, adding that space was allocated to artisans in trade fairs for promotion of products and being provided market support through e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.

GI products from the state include Channapatna toys, Navalgunda dhurries, Kolhapuri chappals, Udupi jasmine, Udupi Muttu Gulla Brinjal, Udupi Sarees, Sandur Lambani embroidery Bidriware, Kamalapur red banana, Mysore Rosewood Inlay and Ganjifa cards, among others.