Geographical Indications (GIs) aids in creating an institutional framework for recognizing, nurturing, and preserving the identity of a good originating from a specific region. The territorial identity of a GI not only represents the adherence to place but also depicts the factors that have been unique enough to preserve the identity over a large period. The Indian GIs have been classified into five heads by the Registry at Chennai, among which Handicraft GIs and Agriculture GIs comprise almost 90% of the total. The registered GIs have not only been the saviours of the traditional skills and customs inherited over generations but have also remained one of the important options of sustaining rural as the well semi-urban environment. These GIs also play an important role in the local and national economy with agriculture, handicrafts contributing to the highest and second-highest employment opportunities respectively in rural and semi-urban areas. Despite the direct and indirect ways in which GI tends to preserve ‘Identity', it also at times lacks in guaranteeing a certain level of protection especially in case of imitations and awareness functionalities. This research thus tends to look at:

Objectives-

• The aspects behind the inception and gradual development of Identity of selected Agricultural and Handicraft GIs
• The unique factors that claim to identify and distinguish GIs falling in similar categories
• How territorial identity of GIs gets violated

• To finally assess the role, importance, and extent of protection rendered by GIs.

Data and Research Methods-

This research tends to encompass both qualitative and quantitative techniques ranging from textual analysis to the use of data visualizations, mapping software, primarily from secondary sources along with certain insights from field visits.

Keywords- Geographical Indications, Identity, India, Handicraft GIs, Agricultural GIs