Geographical branding revolutionized French champagne; are GI tags working for India, too?
Champagne is best known as a sparkling wine. It is also the name of a region about 150 km east of Paris, where the drink originated. The region is an early success story in geographical branding. Producing champagne requires specific vineyard practices, sourcing grapes only from designated areas, and following prescribed grape-pressing and fermentation methods. The region is estimated to generate annual revenues of about €6 billion from champagne production.
Today, this idea is formalized as a Geographical Indication (GI), a form of intellectual property used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, characteristics or a reputation essentially attributable to that place. It is a concept that could greatly benefit India, a country with diverse cultures and unique products. Think Darjeeling tea, Chanderi saris, Pochampally Ikat, Madhubani paintings and Khurja pottery. All have been assigned GI tags by a designated Indian government body.
The good thing about a GI tag is that unlike a trademark, which enables private ownership, it is the collective right of people living in an area following traditional production methods and quality practices associated with a product. Once a GI is issued for a product—say, Kancheepuram silk—any producer who follows the same production process can apply to get a GI tag for their output. For customers, a GI tag is akin to branding to identify a genuine product.
In the post-covid period, India has seen a surge in registration of both new GI tags, and producers thereof. While this increase is currently concentrated in certain sectors and states, recent evidence related to Kalanamak rice shows that its possible to successfully revive a traditional product for greater employment and income.
GI surge
India started issuing GI tags in 2004-05, with Darjeeling tea, Pochampally Ikat and Chanderi saris being the first three. For the next 16 years until 2020-21, the first year of the covid-19 pandemic, an average of 23 GI tags were issued per year. Thereafter, awareness about the power of GI tags increased, and registrations took off. In the last five financial years, India has issued 452 GI registrations compared to 109 registrations in the previous five-year period.
Of the 822 GI tags issued until March 2026, 350 related to handicrafts and artisan products, and 257 to agriculture and horticulture, representing three-fourths of the total.
The increase in GI tags has come amid a combination of efforts by the government and local producer associations. For instance, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is running a programme to promote the GI ecosystem. It has supported pre- and post-GI registration of 300 products, of which 138 products have been GI-registered, as per Nabard’s impact report for 2024-25.
A region or community acquiring a GI tag is the first step. The next step is producers in the community aligning with the processes. Once a GI is registered, anyone residing in that region and following the same process can apply to register their products. This is termed an ‘authorised user’ application. It can be by an individual, company, proprietorship or a cooperative.
Authorised user applications have mimicked the surge in GI tags. In the four-year period from 2021-22 to 2024-25, 37,390 authorised user applications were filed. That is a 9.5-fold increased over the previous four-year period. As with GI tags, 98% of applications are in just two categories, agricultural products and handicrafts.
Ecosystem economics
The current skew toward agricultural products and handicrafts does not do justice to diversity that is India, and suggests an untapped potential. Data availability on the financial potential or impact of GI tags is sketchy—there are no complete revenue, employment or export numbers available. But there are examples that show how a GI tag can shape an ecosystem, with a multiplier effect on employment, livelihoods and revenues.
One such GI success story is Kalanamak rice, principally grown in Siddharthnagar, a district in Uttar Pradesh. It has a lower glycemic index than Basmati rice, making it more suitable for diabetics, while retaining a similar aroma. Kalanamak rice secured a GI tag in 2013. According to the city administration, between 2018 and 2024, its area under cultivation has increased 6.6 times and number of farmers involved 7.9 times.
Nabard estimates its GI interventions have directly or indirectly benefited about 4 million artisans, weavers and farmers, of whom 35% are women.
Potential to unlock
Even within the current GI tags, there is potential to be unlocked, along the lines of Kalanamak rice. At present, there is a also large skew in authorized user applications, both in terms of GI tags and states. Of the 822 GI tags issued, the top 10 GI tags accounted for 40% and top 20 for 57% of authorized user applications. These were led by Alphonso mango (1,824 applications), Solapur pomegranate (1,766) and Sangli raisins (1,639).
Similarly, just four states—Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Jammu and Kashmir —account for 59% of all authorized user applications.
States with a high percentage of tribal population like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand—who have a trove of unique arts, crafts, products and practices—are fairly behind. For a country hungry for growth and employment levers, there is much in the GI space to unlock.
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