Soon, Banarasi paan, langda & 8 other state products to get GI tag

Varanasi: Soon, the famed Banarasi paan, Banarasi Langda mango, Barabanki handloom besides seven other exclusive products of Uttar Pradesh will get the prestigious Geographical Identification (GI) certification which will provide them legal protection and boot their exports.
State’s ODOP (One District One Product) Cell of MSME department, in association with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Varanasi-based organization Human Welfare Association (HWA), has already initiated an exercise in this regard.
So far, UP’s 26 exclusive products, which have specific geographical origin and possess qualities or reputation of that origin, have received the GI certification. The terracotta art of Gorakhpur, the home district of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, was the last to join the league of GI tagged goods recently.
HWA president Dr. Rajni Kant, who is an expert of GI and has been assigned by the state government to look into the matter, said that the list of prospective goods include Banarasi paan, Banarasi Langda mango, Adamchini rice, Ramnagar baigan (brinjal), Barabanki handloom, Muzaffarnagar gud (jaggery), Agra leather footwear, Bagpat handloom, Jalaon handmade paper and Jailsar Ghati ghunghroo.
“The work is almost in final stage for applying to the GI Registry in Chennai,” he told TOI on Wednesday.