Arunachal Pradesh has achieved a major milestone by securing 20 Geographical Indication (GI) registrations, with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) playing a key role in supporting the GI registration process for traditional agricultural products, textiles, handicrafts, foods and beverages.
A GI tag is an intellectual property right that identifies products originating from a specific region and possessing unique qualities, reputation or characteristics linked to that location. Such tagging helps protect traditional knowledge, prevents the misuse of product names, improves product credibility, and enables producers to access premium markets and better prices.
The state’s first GI-registered products were Arunachal Orange and Idu Mishmi Textile, which were registered during 2014-15.
Between 2020-21 and recent years, 18 additional products received GI status, bringing the state’s total to 20.
Several more Arunachal products are currently in the pipeline for GI registration, which is a positive development to safeguard the produce, protect ownership, and prevent misuse.
