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A PIB Backgrounder reviews India's Geographical Indication ecosystem: the country now has over 800 registered GI products, of which 607 have been granted since 2014.
Registration and protection run under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, administered by the GI Registry at Chennai, which has all-India jurisdiction.
Uttar Pradesh leads with 81 GI-tagged products as of December 2025, followed by Tamil Nadu with 76 and Maharashtra with 55.
Authorised users have risen from 365 to 29,000 in the last ten years (as of January 2025), and a 2025 amendment to the GI Rules cut filing fees by 80 per cent and the renewal fee from Rs 3,000 to Rs 500.
The Government has set a target of 10,000 GI registrations by 2030.
A GI is a form of intellectual property that ties a product to the place it comes from, certifying that goods carrying the name genuinely originate in that region and possess the qualities, reputation or traditional method associated with it. It differs from a trademark in a crucial way: a trademark belongs to one firm, while a GI belongs collectively to the producers of a region, and no single producer can own or transfer it. This is why the applicant must be an association of producers, an organisation or an authority established by law, and must represent the interests of the producers. The practical effect is that the certification protects a shared heritage against imitation — an authentic Banarasi saree can be distinguished from a machine-made copy, and the weaver captures the price premium that the distinction commands.
Simple Analogy: A trademark is a name on a shop; a GI is the name of the village on which the whole street's reputation rests.
India's dedicated GI statute, with Rules notified in 2002 and amended in 2025; the framework became operational in 2003 and registrations began in 2004-05. Registration is valid for ten years and is renewable
Governs revocation, cancellation or variation of a registration. Any aggrieved person may apply to the Registrar or the competent authority, and the Registrar or the Appellate Board may act on their own motion. Grounds include registration obtained by fraud or misrepresentation, the GI no longer being protected in its country of origin or having fallen into disuse, and use likely to deceive consumers or containing scandalous or obscene matter
The multilateral basis on which GIs are recognised internationally, and the reason India enacted a dedicated GI law
The older international instrument under which indications of source are recognised as industrial property
Create dedicated retail space for One District One Product items, GI-tagged products and handicrafts
Key: An allocation of Rs 5,000 crore was made in FY 2023-24 for establishing these malls across all States
Give artisans, weavers, farmers and producer groups direct market access at railway stations
Key: Railway GI booths under OSOP provide dedicated stalls for regional crafts, textiles, handlooms and food products
Support IP protection and commercialisation, including GIs
Key: Reimburses up to 100 per cent of the actual cost of GI registration, subject to a ceiling of Rs 2 lakh per registered GI
Help producers enforce GI rights and meet legal costs
Key: Up to Rs 1.5 lakh for enforcing GI rights and related legal expenses, under the Ministry of Textiles; further support flows through the National Handloom Development Programme and the National Handicrafts Development Programme
Expand overseas markets for GI-tagged agricultural products
Key: Supports quality improvement, capacity building, infrastructure and market promotion; first-time shipments in 2026 included Karnataka GI fruits to the Maldives (40-50 per cent higher returns), Salem Sago to Canada, Joha Rice to the UK and Italy, and Tezpur Litchi to Dubai (about 10 per cent higher prices)
Fold GI clusters into mainstream tourism itineraries
Key: Modelled on wine tours abroad — for example a Pochampally Ikat weaving village tour or a Darjeeling tea estate trail; in June 2026 a Muga Silk Trail was announced in Assam along with a Silk Tourism Park and Muga Utsav festivals
Receives and examines GI applications and maintains the register; applications may be filed directly or sent by post, registered post, speed post or courier
The apex IP administration office under which the GI Registry functions, along with the patent, design and trade mark offices
The department in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry responsible for intellectual property policy, under which CGPDTM and the GI Registry sit
Promotes exports of GI-tagged agricultural and processed food products through quality improvement, capacity building and market development
GIs sit alongside patents, trade marks, designs and copyright; the distinguishing feature is collective community ownership rather than ownership by a single enterprise
ODOP and GI overlap heavily in retail promotion, both being showcased through PM Ekta Malls and One Station One Product outlets
GI registration prevents misappropriation of community knowledge, complementing the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library approach used against wrongful patents
The Ministry of Textiles estimates a 20-30 per cent income gain for rural artisans, and the Muzaffarnagar jaggery case shows the export route — 30 metric tonnes shipped to Bangladesh in 2025 by a farmer producer company with 545 members
GI recognition clauses have become a live negotiating issue in the India-EU FTA and in agreements with Oman and New Zealand
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GI tags appear almost every year in Prelims, usually as a product-to-state matching question or a statement set on the GI Act
A sign identifying goods as originating from a particular place, where a given quality, reputation or characteristic is essentially attributable to that origin
A producer of the GI product who is registered to use the indication, as distinct from the registered proprietor who holds it on behalf of the producers
The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, under which GIs receive international recognition
A tourism itinerary built around a GI cluster, such as the Muga Silk Trail announced in Assam in June 2026
The Railways initiative providing dedicated stalls, including GI booths, for local products at stations