Aiming at protecting and reviving the traditional mastery that the Indian tribal folks possess, in producing some of the most exotic products, TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India) has undertaken the GI initiatives.

TRIFED, through marketing GI tagged products of tribal origin or source, is working extensively towards realising the importance of protecting and promoting agricultural, natural or manufactured goods with specific geographical characteristics thereby contributing in preservation of invaluable treasures of ‘Incredible India’.

The 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' corner in the high commissions is being set up as part of a global initiative, in collaboration with TRIFED, to promote products that tribal groups across India have been creating for centuries.

TRIFED’s GI intervention and setting up of Atmanirbhar corner in Indian missions abroad aims at safeguarding the interests of the original producers as well as that of the product and ensure that the producer avails optimum cost for their premium goods even in the highly competitive market scenario.

GI intervention also aims to ensure recognition of indigenous products both in India and the global market and to revive diminishing art and craft from a tribal specific geographical location.

At present, TRIFED markets 56 GI tagged products, owing to their tribal origin/involvement, from among the 300+ registered Indian GIs through its well-established network of 141 Tribes India retail outlets and various ecommerce platforms.

It has facilitated authorised user-ship for 94 artisans till date and is persevering to increase the authorised user base to 500 in the near future.

In addition to marketing 56 GI products, TRIFED is also working to get GI tag for the 177 potential products that have been identified from the states under operational areas of our regional offices across the country namely North-East (88), Uttarakhand (14), Jharkhand (11), Madhya Pradesh (11), Maharashtra (10) Odisha (6), West Bengal (9), Gujarat (7), Chhattisgarh (7), Andhra Pradesh (4), Rajasthan (4) and others (6).

Also, GI registration of 21 potential products from the states of Gujarat, Assam, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand has already been initiated under the mentorship of Padma Shree Rajnikant Dwivedi.

This will increase the number of GI products marketed by TRIFED to 77 GI products which it sources from empanelled Tribal suppliers. The activities undertaken under GI initiative are to align with the “Vocal for Local” and build an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” based on the clarion call of the Prime Minister as per the set vision of India@75 Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

TRIFED has partnered with Prime Minister’s Office to promote and market GIs of tribal origin and transform them into a brand which symbolises empowerment of tribal artisans. A dedicated event, GI Mahotsav in association with LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration), Ministry of culture and Ministry of Textile was organised for sensitisation of trainee officers that will ensure administrative level support and formulation of policies that safeguard the interest of GI products in their region.

Besides, TRIFED has joined hands with NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) with the purpose of providing acceleration and strength to the GI initiative by sharing resources available at their disposal.