Five Products From Odisha To Be Examined For GI Tag

Bhubaneswar: Authenticity of five products from Odisha will be ascertained by a consultative group of experts of the Geographical Indications (GI) Registry, Chennai, in a meeting on December 6 in Bhubaneswar.

Odisha is seeking GI tag for three food products – Kai (ant) chutney from Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal’s Magji and Rasabali of Kendrapada and silver filigree of Cuttack under handcraft caregory and Gajapati date palm jaggery, which has been classified as an agricultural product.

The Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) in December 2020 submitted applications with the GI Registry seeking the tag for Kai Chutney and Magji under the foodstuff category.

Magji is a milk product prepared from buffalo milk sugar and cardamom powder having a unique taste and flavour. Local confectioners have been preparing this sweet for more than 100 years. Either Mandar or Sadangi of Gondia block is believed to be the centre of its origin.

Similarly, the GI application for silver filigree (Chandi Tarakasi) was filed by Odisha State Co-operative Handicrafts Corporation Limited in 2021. Filigree craft is made after silver bricks are transformed into thin fine wires or foils from which jewellery or showpieces are created.

The GI for Rasabali was also filed last year by Kendrapada Rasabali Mistanna Nirmata Sangha and Rural Infrastructure Development and Employment while Odisha Rajya Talgur Samabaya Sangha Ltd sought the status for date palm jaggery in 2020.

Rasabali, fried flattened brown cheese cake soaked in thickened and sweetened milk, traces its origin to the 400-year-old Baldevjew temple in Kendrapada. Date palm jaggery, a natural sweetener obtained from sweet juice (neera) of date palm trees, is traditionally prepared in a trapezoidal form called ‘Patali gur’ in Gajapati. It is dark brown in colour and has a unique taste.

The pre-examination of all five products has been completed and the examination reports will be issued to the applicants on the basis of the recommendations of the consultative group after the meeting on December 6, sources said.

The applicants have been asked for a PowerPoint presentation to support their claim. Five experts on each product will be present at the meeting.

After necessary compliance with the conditions, the applications will be accepted and published for the public to file an opposition within a stipulated period. If no opposition is received, the GIs will be registered.