CURRENT SCENARIO OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS (GIs) IN UTTARAKHAND STATE, INDIA

Abstract

The Geographical Indication (GI) is a legal framework for the protection of indigenous localized goods/products, worldwide. For the protection and regulation of GIs, the government of India enacted Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act in 1999 which came in force in 2003. The present study aims to understand the current scenario of GI products in Uttarakhand state. For this purpose, the data of GI registered goods have downloaded from the official website of the Department for Promotion of Industries and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GoI, and the relevant related literature and photo plates have also used. Uttarakhand Tejpat was the first Uttarakhand product that was awarded by GI tag in 2016. Till now, 8 products of the State have been registered as GIs by the GI Registry of India. These registered commodities belong to two different categories, i.e., agriculture (03) and handicraft goods (05). The present study provides a detailed description of GI tag goods of the entire State that will help the entrepreneur in identifying and naming goods for GIs. The study suggests that the government of Uttarakhand should lead the entrepreneurs of the State to get GI tag of indigenous and unique goods.