150 products from northeast identified for GI tagging in 2 years

New Delhi, Dec 29 At least 150 distinctive products from northeast have been identified for the Geographical Indication (GI) tagging in the next two years, the government said on Monday.

The Ministry of Development of North-East Region (MDoNER) is spearheading GI tagging of unique, local products of Agri-Horti, Handloom, and Handicraft sector from the northeastern region to promote and preserve the unique identity of these products.

Moreover, the Ministry has sanctioned establishment of the North East Science and Technology Cluster at IIT Guwahati at a cost of Rs 22.98 crore to promote Research, Innovation and Skill Development in northeast.

The NEST cluster will support an Innovation Hub on Grassroots, a Technology Hub for Semiconductor and Artificial Intelligence, a Centre for Excellence for Innovation in Bamboo based technology and other Biodegradable, eco-friendly Plastics and augment entrepreneurial promotion, skill development and Innovation Centre in the region.

Northeast accounts for nearly 96 per cent of the country’s agarwood production. India’s annual export quota for agarwood has been raised sixfold. An integrated proposal for developing agarwood clusters in Golaghat in Assam and Kadamtala in Tripura is under active consideration of the Ministry.

The Ministry is now working for strengthening Traditional Bamboo Artisan Clusters to provide expanded market access, digital linkages, sustainable artisan livelihoods by taking up projects to integrate 4,000+ artisans into formal markets and upgrade 15 Common Facility Centres (CFCs).

This Ministry has supported setting up of procurement units in Karbi Anglong (Assam) and Mokokchung (Nagaland) for creating value-added bamboo engineered products.

The northeast is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping India’s journey towards realising its goal of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.

The Rising North East Investors Summit was held in May in New Delhi with participation of big corporate houses, foreign investors and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). The event has brought about an Investment interest from various private investors and PSUs to the tune of Rs 4.48 lakh crore.

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