Counterfeiting threatens 'Made in India' campaign

Loss of revenues incurred by India's government as a result of counterfeiting increased almost 50 per cent over the last two year and threaten to grow "beyond imagination" in the next five, says an industry body.

The Authentication Solution Providers' Association (ASPA) suggests that counterfeit and illicit products resulted in a loss of almost 40bn rupees (around $6bn) in the 2013-14 fiscal year, a rise from just over 29bn rupees in 2011-12.

The activity "may impact the health of the consumers as well as their belief in 'Made in India' products," continued the ASPA.

The Indian government's Made in India campaign was launched last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Citing data from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the industry group said that fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) were most affected by counterfeiting in 2013-24, with a loss in revenues of 219bn rupees (packaged goods) and 192bn rupees (personal goods) respectively.

Mobile phones came in a close third (190bn rupees) followed by alcoholic beverages (131bn rupees), tobacco (131bn rupees), auto components (105bn rupees) and computer hardware (73bn rupees).

Indian-made products "have great opportunities in India and overseas market," said ASPA president U K Gupta, who is owner of hologram company Holostik India Ltd, at a conference on held on September 12.

"However, with the increase of counterfeiting in various sectors, there is a constant need to ensure that these 'Made in India' label product are of highest quality, genuine and secured till its deliver to the end consumer.

He pointed to the success of authentication technologies such as holographic tax stamps used to protect alcoholic beverages in various Indian states - including Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry and Chhattisgarh - which have increased excise revenue collection by more than 15-20 per cent.

"The adoption of authentication solutions will help these sectors in combating counterfeiting and ensuring the high revenue growth which will contribute to the country economy," he asserted.