Counterfeiting could mar ‘Make in India’ campaign

In the financial year 2013-14, counterfeiting caused a loss of Rs 21,957 crore ($3.3 billion) to the FMCG packaged goods industry

Panaji: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India campaign will succeed only if products manufactured in the country are reliable and authentic, a top official of a pan-India association of manufacturers of anti-counterfeiting solutions has said, adding that FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), especially packaged drinking water, were the most counterfeited in India.

The President of the India edition of Authentication Solution Providers Association (ASPA) in Goa, U K Gupta, said that authentication of goods using simple and cost-effective techniques such as holograms and tamper-proof seals would save the Indian economy several billion rupees annually.

"The Make in India campaign needs authentication of products to make it complete. A scenario where goods manufactured in India are counterfeited will only harm the campaign. There is a constant need to ensure that the Made in India label products are of highest quality, genuine and secured till delivered to the end consumer," Gupta said.

Quoting statistics from a report of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Gupta said that in the financial year 2013-14, counterfeiting caused a loss of Rs 21,957 crore ($3.3 billion) to the FMCG packaged goods industry, while in the same year, counterfeiting and duplication of products caused a loss of Rs 39,239 crore to the state exchequer in forms of tax and duty evasion.

According to Gupta, counterfeiting in industries like FMCG (packaged and personal goods), mobile phones, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, auto components and computer hardware caused a cumulative loss of Rs.105,381 crore in 2013-14 to the companies involved in their manufacture.

Nearly 70 manufacturers of authentication solution providers in India are members of the ASPA which is also affiliated with global associations such as the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), Counterfeit Intelligence Bureau (CIB) and Interpol.

ASPA members protect over 10,000 brands worldwide through the identification of genuine products and documents. Gupta said that the most successful case study vis-a-vis countering counterfeiting is of usage of authentication solutions by various state excise departments. "In India, more than 22 states are already using approximately 20,000 million security hologram (tax stamps) on liquor bottles per annum.

The usage of authentication solutions in states like Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh has not only minimized the tragedies due to spurious liquor but also increased excise revenue collections by more than 15-20 percent on a year-on-year basis," he said.

"States like Bihar, Goa, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Rajasthan were not using any authentication solutions till date. It will help these states in curbing the inter-state smuggling of liquor which happens due to difference in excise duty rates," he said.

By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar