"K'taka has the highest 42 GI tagged products in the country"

Karnataka has the highest 42Geographical Indication tagged products in the country and thegovernment was making all efforts to popularize and marketthem, including opening of pavilions at airports, stateIndustries Minister Jagadish Shettar said here on Friday.

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

Responding to a question by Congress MLA Abbayya Prasadin the legislative assembly during question hour, he saidabout 370 products have been registered for GeographicalIndication throughout India, of which 42 are from Karnataka,''which is the highest in the country.'' ''Agencies have been fixed for all the 42 items formarketing like Karnataka Silk Industry Corporation for MysoreSilk, All India Agarbathi Manufacturers' Association forMysore Agarbathi,'' he said.

The minister said the government was also holdingdiscussions with airport authorities to have a separatepavilion to exhibit the state's GI tagged products at theinternational airport, other airports, bus stands and railwaystations.

For promotion of these products, the state government waspreparing awareness programmes, registration of authorisedusers and diagnostic study, as per the State GeographicalIndications Policy announced in 2019 for promotion ofregistered Geographical Indications.

He said 398 artisans have been registered as authorisedusers, 14 awareness programmes have been conducted and sevendiagnostic study reports are being prepared.

Also, the department of Handlooms and Textiles has takenup a preliminary study of Ilkal sarees, Guledgudda Khana andMolakalmuru sarees, he said, adding that space was allocatedto artisans in trade fairs for promotion of products andbeing provided market support through e-commerce platformslike Amazon and Flipkart.

GI products from the state include Channapatna toys,Navalgunda dhurries, Kolhapuri chappals, Udupi jasmine, UdupiMuttu Gulla Brinjal, Udupi Sarees, Sandur Lambani embroideryBidriware, Kamalapur red banana, Mysore Rosewood Inlay andGanjifa cards, among others.