Brand Kolhapuri - Iconic chappals get Geographical Indication tag: Report

Photo: Amazon.com

The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has granted the iconic Kolhapuri chappals a Geographic Indication (GI) tag, across four districts each in Maharashtra and Karnataka, as per a report in Mumbai Mirror.

The districts are Kolhapur, Solapur, Sangli and Satara in Maharashtra and Dharwad, Belgaum, Bagalkot and Bijapur in Karnataka. The GI tag brands the footwear made from these select eight districts as 'Kolhapuris' and prohibits usage of the term for similar products made in other parts of the country.

An established icon, the move is expected to further better the product's domestic and international prospects. The paper quoted fourth-generation artisans from Kolhapur, who were pleased with the development and felt that the tag would protect genuine artisans from both states against knock-offs.

The tag was sanctioned after a joint application made in 2009 by the Sant Rohidas Leather Industries & Charmakar Development Corporation Limited of Maharashtra (LIDCOM) and the Dr Babu Jagjeevan Ram Leather Industries Development Corporation of Karnataka (LIDKAR). A previous bid by Maharashtra was rejected.

The report quoted the application which states that Kolhapuris can be traced back to the 12th-century ruler King Bijjal of Karnataka and his Prime Minister Vishwaguru Basavanna who wanted to uplift the cobbler community. The footwear was traded only in the 20^th century under Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, where during his rule 29 tanning centres were opened to facilitate trade.