Empowering Rural Communities through Geographical Indications: A Pathway to Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-555-3_5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Geographical Indications; Rural Development; Intellectual Property Rights Law

Abstract

In the field of intellectual property (IP), Geographical Indications (GIs) represent a unique set of rights that connect product quality, cultural heritage, and the geographical origin of a product. In India, GIs have evolved from being seen as simply a legal means to differentiate products in the marketplace to being tools for improving rural livelihoods, reducing poverty, and promoting sustainable development. The goal of this chapter is to analyze how well GIs work as a means to achieve inclusive and sustainable rural development in India. GIs are located at the intersection between IP Law and the Political Economy of Rural Development and sustainability (and thus, the Governance of Sustainability). The authors intend to go beyond the usual celebratory descriptions of GIs and assess the three sets of Institutions, Distributive Impacts and Ecological Impacts that create the context for developing inclusive or sustainable outcomes through GIs. Using a doctrinal analysis of: (1) the TRIPS Agreement and (2) the GI Act (Geographical Indications of Goods [Registration and Protection] Act, 1999) the authors will provide an evaluation of the governance structures, enforcement mechanisms and benefit-sharing arrangements that shape the implementation of GIs in India. The authors will use examples of agricultural GIs (Darjeeling Tea), handicraft GIs (Muga Silk, Banarasi sarees, Basmati Rice and Pochampally Ikat) to show the differences among regions and sectors. The analysis shows that while GIs have the potential to produce price premiums, protect traditional knowledge, reinforce community identity, and encourage environmentally sustainable practices, the extent of the developmental impacts of GIs is not consistent or predictable. The authors conclude that for GIs to contribute fully to the goal of Inclusive Growth, they must be appropriately integrated into mechanisms of participatory governance, effective enforcement, and a wider framework of rural development that includes sustainability and social justice objectives.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Akanksha Madaan
AU  - Prataya Sarkar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
TI  - Empowering Rural Communities through Geographical Indications: A Pathway to Inclusive and Sustainable Growth
BT  - Proceeding of The Future of Life - Legal, Scientific, and Geopolitical Challenges (TFOL2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 37
EP  - 68
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-555-3_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-555-3_5
ID  - Madaan2026
ER  -