The Hindu Business Line : Mysore Silk gets geographical indication

The Mysore silk story began in 1912 with the royal Wodeyar family nurturing the weaving art by importing 32 looms (that are still functioning) from Switzerland.

SILK CUT: Different varieties of cocoons on display at the Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Friday as part of the 10-day-long Silk Exposition. Crepes, chiffons of Mysore, Grand Temple silks of Kancheepuram, Kashmir silks, dyes of Rajasthan, Tanchois of Gujarat, jangla and satin sarees of Banaras and Balucharies of West Bengal are also on display. - G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Dec. 16

THIS week in Bangalore has been all about names. While this city is going back to its 15th-Century moniker, its soulmate Mysore will go global for the elegant silk brand the region produces.

After years of fighting spurious products from non-local trade, Mysore Silk is now a geographical indication, joining legally tenable place-named products such as Darjeeling (tea), Champagne, Bordeaux and Scotch. On November 28, the State-owned Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) got the sole proprietorship of one of early Indian GIs granted under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999.

The 15-month exercise cost it about Rs 5,000 and the GI will have to be renewed after 10 years. To bear the `Mysore' name, the silk must be made in the Mysore region and manufacturers and traders will have to be authorised by KSIC. The products will have the `Intellectual Property India' stamp.

"Mysore silk has finally earned its due and is entering the world register," said Mr P. Vijayan, Managing Director of KSIC. "KSIC has a very good brand image which was being misused by many others who used inferior quality silk and called it Mysore silk," he told Business Line.

"The GI certification has actually strengthened our backbone. We will now get into its enforcement through wide publicity and educational drive," among both sellers and consumers of the heritage silk, Mr Vijayan said.

The IP tool could not have come at a better time for the Rs 30-crore KSIC, which has just posted its first half-yearly operational profits in several years and after being bailed out of Rs 56-crore accumulated losses.

Silk not being an item under sales tax, the size of spurious trade can be estimated at Rs 250 crore.

The misuse was rampant in Mysore, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

"Ours is a superior and costliest yarn of around Rs 1,400 per kg, compared to yarn of even Rs 800-1,000 that has been used," he said. Some silk traders stretched their Government product dealership, some others printed bill books and most of these shops sported `the Karnataka' and `Mysore Silk' names to lure domestic and foreign tourists.

Warnings and vigilance drives have not helped. Penalty under a GI certification can be sterner, even leading to imprisonment.

The Mysore silk story began in 1912 with the royal Wodeyar family nurturing the weaving art by importing 32 looms (that are still functioning) from Switzerland.

The special lustre and superfine texture come from the silkworms reared on local mulberry, from the mix of bivoltine and multivoltine cocoons as well as the loving twist from the weavers.

`Bagging the GI tag was not easy': Bangalore-based Chamundi Silks raised an objection, which was overcome with some compromise.

There are still several disgruntled traders and weavers.

"We are not looking so much for commercial benefit as customers' right to get genuine Mysore silk," Mr Vijayan said. "With GI, we can sell the legitimate products in other States and also export them. As volume grows, the skills of hundreds of Mysore weavers will get recognised in the world."

The demand has been growing in recent years. Until November this year, KSIC sold a record 57,000 sarees or a total of 3.2 lakh metres, compared to 55,000 sarees in entire fiscal 2004-05.

Under a restructuring on since September 2003, KSIC has implemented a Rs 25-crore VRS over the last two years to reduce staff size from 1,700 to 850. KSIC has recently tied-up with NIFT for creating new designs and plans foray into garments in February 2006.

"The GI is only the beginning," Mr Vijayan said. "KSIC can look forward to a brighter future and our customers can expect to get the genuine product with its sentimental geographical flavour."