‘Sweet news for us all’: West Bengal gets Geographical Indication status for rosogulla
West Bengal and Odisha have been fighting over the origin of the sweet since 2015.
The rosogulla originated in West Bengal, authorities ruled on Tuesday ending a two-year battle between the state and Odisha over the popular sweet.
Bengal was given the Geographical Indication tag, which recognises a state as the origin of a product. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the development on Twitter, calling it “sweet news for us all”.
Sweet news for us all. We are very happy and proud that #Bengal has been granted GI ( Geographical Indication) status for Rosogolla
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 14, 2017
“The GI authorities have ruled today that West Bengal is the origin of rosogulla,” Sanjay Bhattacharya, deputy controller of patents and designs in Kolkata, told the Hindustan Times. “It has been settled under the GI Act that authenticates a product relating to either a geographical location, or community or society.”
The two states’ claims
Odisha and West Bengal staked claim to the GI registration of rosogulla and have fought over it since 2015. Odisha had said it should be given the tag as the Jagannath Temple in Puri uses the sweet as prasad during the Rath Yatra. West Bengal said the sweet was invented in 1868 by confectioner Nobin Chandra Das, whose son later founded the famous sweetmeat chain KC Das.