Finally, West Bengal Wins The Fight With Odisha Over Origin Of Rosogolla, Gets GI Tag

Ending a two and a half years long 'sweet' spate with Odisha, West Bengal on Tuesday won the Geographical Identification (GI) fight over one of the most popular sweets in India-'Rosogolla'.

The GI authorities have ruled today that West Bengal is the origin of rosogolla, reported Hindustan Times."It has been settled under the GI Act that authenticates a product relating to either a geographical location, or community or society," an official was quoted as saying by the paper.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too congratulated statemen on the news, calling it a happy and proud moment. "Sweet news for us all. We are very happy and proud that #Bengal has been granted GI ( Geographical Indication) status for Rosogolla," she said.

In West Bengal, confectioner Nobin Chandra Das is widely known as the one, who created Rasgulla in the 1860s.

Odisha had claimed that the sweetmeat originated from the Jagannath Temple in Puri, where it is a part of the religious rituals since the 12th century. Odisha calls it 'Pahala Rasgulla'. However, in its original application to the GI, West Bengal had sought the GI tag on what they call it as "Banglar Rasogolla" (Bengal's Rasgulla).

In West Bengal, confectioner Nobin Chandra Das is widely known as the one, who created Rasgulla in the 1860s.

Bengal had told the GI registrar office that the one in Odisha is a different variety.The Bengal one is off white or light cream coloured, spherical in shape while in other states, it varies from brown to other colours.

A GI tag is a sort of intellectual property identifier recognising the origin of a product. The GI registration office is based in Chennai. Once granted, the GI tag prevents unauthorised use of the geographical indication and boosts exports by giving it a unique identity.

'Rasogolla', a dessert, made from ball shaped dumplings of Indian cottage cheese i.e., "channa", is cooked in light syrup which is made of sugar.