DPIIT, MSME Ministry sign MoU to propel India's GI products into global markets
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on August 5, 2026, at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.
The collaborative framework aims to accelerate commercialisation, quality standardisation, and market access of India's Geographical Indication (GI) products, and to strengthen the livelihoods of indigenous artisans, weavers, and producers.
Both organisations agreed to integrate GI products into the One District One Product (ODOP) ecosystem and to facilitate onboarding of GI collectives and authorised users onto the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) under a dedicated "Bharat GI" banner.
The two ministries will also co-sponsor dedicated GI Pavilions at national and international trade expos to improve export visibility for GI-tagged products.
Geographical Indications (GI) Act, 1999
A Geographical Indication identifies a good as originating from a specific geographical territory, where a given quality, reputation, or characteristic is essentially attributable to that origin (e.g., Darjeeling Tea, Banaras Brocades and Sarees). GI protection in India is governed by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, which received presidential assent on December 30, 1999 and came into force on September 15, 2003, aligning India's IP regime with the TRIPS Agreement obligations. Registration is administered by the Geographical Indications Registry (under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry), headquartered in Chennai.
Key Details
- Statutory basis: Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999; in force since September 15, 2003.
- Initial registration validity: 10 years, renewable indefinitely for further 10-year periods on payment of renewal fee.
- Nodal authority: DPIIT (registration via the GI Registry, Chennai); India has registered over 600 GIs as of recent counts.
- Infringement remedies (injunctions, damages) are provided under Sections 66-67 of the Act.
The MoU is aimed at improving commercial outcomes for GI-registered products by connecting them to digital marketplaces (ONDC, GeM) and export platforms — addressing the long-standing gap between GI registration and actual market commercialisation.
MSMED Act, 2006 and MSME Classification
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 provides the statutory framework for defining and supporting MSMEs, which form the backbone of India's GI-linked artisan and craft economy (weavers, handicraft producers, etc.). The classification criteria were revised in 2020 to use a composite of investment in plant & machinery/equipment and annual turnover, removing the earlier manufacturing-versus-services distinction.
Key Details
- Micro: investment up to Rs 1 crore, turnover up to Rs 5 crore.
- Small: investment up to Rs 10 crore, turnover up to Rs 50 crore.
- Medium: investment up to Rs 50 crore, turnover up to Rs 250 crore.
- Revised criteria effective from July 1, 2020, under the MSMED Act, 2006 framework.
Most GI-tagged artisan and weaver enterprises fall within the MSME classification, making the MSME Ministry a natural institutional partner for DPIIT in scaling up GI product commercialisation.
One District One Product (ODOP) Scheme
ODOP is a Government of India initiative to identify, promote, and brand one unique product per district to boost local economic development, employment generation, and exports — often overlapping with GI-registered local specialities. It works alongside export promotion efforts under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and complements state-level industrial and craft-promotion schemes.
Key Details
- Objective: identify and promote locally unique products per district for branding, market linkage, and export promotion.
- Convergence with other schemes: complements the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), which supports traditional industry clusters including many GI product clusters.
- Under the new MoU, DPIIT and the MSME Ministry will jointly integrate ODOP into their programme design.
The MoU explicitly commits both ministries to strengthen the ODOP ecosystem alongside GI product promotion, linking district-level branding with national and global market access channels.
- MoU signed: August 5, 2026, between Ministry of MSME and DPIIT, at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.
- GI Act, 1999: in force since September 15, 2003; GI registration valid for 10 years, renewable.
- Digital market access platforms named: ONDC and GeM, under a "Bharat GI" banner.
- MSME classification (2020 revision): Micro (up to Rs 1 crore investment / Rs 5 crore turnover), Small (Rs 10 crore / Rs 50 crore), Medium (Rs 50 crore / Rs 250 crore).
- India has registered over 600 Geographical Indications to date.