mehndi: Gi Tag In Hand, Sojat Mehndi Nowlooks To Increase Global Footprint | Jaipur News

JAIPUR: It’s official. The renowned and sought-after Sojat mehndi received the Geographical Indication (GI) certificate on Sunday. While the brand was included in the GI list last September, Rajendra Ratnoo, controller general of patents, designs and trademarks, came down from Mumbai to hand over the certificate to the farmers and merchants of the Sojat Mehndi Kishan Samiti and Mehndi Vyapar Sangh Samiti, which had applied for the status, in Pali on Sunday.

The GI tag is expected to play a big role in discouraging surrogate products sold as Sojat mehndi. Secondly, it is also expected to increase mehndi exports. Till now, it was the word-of-mouth publicity about its superior quality that helped to attract buyers. Now, there is government recognition of it. A senior official in the industries department said that Sojat mehndi is known for high lawsone, a red-orange dye, content. The quality is determined by its colour, purity, and dyeing property.
“The principal colouring content is lawsone. According to minimum Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), for ordinary mehndi, lawsone content should be 1. However, Sojat mehndi’s lawsone content is far better than the BIS minimum standards as it is more than 2.5. The high lawsone content has made it special and unique, in comparison to other varieties,” said Mahendra Kumar Parakh, commissioner, department of industries and commerce.
Sojat city, also called ‘mehndi nagri’, is India’s largest henna cultivating and producing city. It has a special colour due to the area’s soil conditions and rain pattern. The good quality has motivated many local farmers to cultivate mehndi.
About 90% of India’s mehndi output comes from Sojat, Marwar Junction and Jaitara area, and is valued at Rs 1,000 crore. Rajjak Ali, general manager, district industries and commerce centre, Pali, said, “There are 160 factories making mehndi in Pali area engaging over 20,000 people. The crop is cultivated in around 40,000 hectares and much of the produce goes to Middle East countries.”
GI tag is a form of intellectual property, a certification given to certain goods or products which are unique to a geographical region. It is an integral part of the development which advances economic interests. These tags are a tool to protect the ownership rights on natural resources and manufactured goods. Products having GI tags prevent unauthorised use and provide financial gain for producers through exports.