Government will provide financial assistance to eligible agencies taking initiative to promote Geographical Indication (GI) products. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has issued guidelines regarding financial assistance for initiatives to promote GI.
The DPIIT, which functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, deals with matters of investment and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). GI is a type of IPR and is mainly an agricultural, natural or manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) that originates in a certain geographical area.
Generally, GI assures quality and uniqueness and is essentially due to its place of origin. The major items to get GI tag are Basmati rice, Darjeeling tea, Chanderi cloth, Mysore silk, Kullu shawls, Kangra tea, Tanjore paintings, Surkha of Allahabad, Printing of Farrukhabad, Zardozi of Lucknow and Walnut wood carvings of Kashmir.
DPIIT said, financial assistance in the form of 100 per cent grant-in-aid will be given to eligible agencies taking initiatives to promote GI. Other benefits of GI registration are legal protection of the product, prevention of its unauthorized use by others and promotion of exports.
