West Bengal seeks GI tag for rasagolla

Both Odisha and West Bengal are claiming ownership of rasagolla.

Amid controversy over the origins of the iconic sweet, rasagolla ( known better as rasgulla elsewhere), the West Bengal government has set off the official process of staking its claim, by filing application for the Geographical Indication (GI) for the syrupy sweet.

“Yes we have filed our application a few days back” an official told The Hindu . While West Bengal has already received GI for several of its food and agro items as well as its handicrafts and handlooms, and its teas, the rush for applying for a GI tag for a sweet that was almost synonymous with the State lay elsewhere.

A bitter-war has broken out over the origins of this white dripping-with-sweetness-ball of cottage-cheese. The fight is between Odisha and West Bengal, with each one claiming ownership of rasagolla.

Odisha has staked claim to have ‘invented’ years ago, the sweet associating it with a centuries old ritual of Lord Jagannath. West Bengal always thought of rasagolla as its own.

The city’s Das family, whose ancestor Nobin Chandra is said to have invented rasagolla as we know them now, have rallied to stave off the ‘threat.’

“Yes we have initiated the documentation process prior to submitting our application” Minister for Science and Technology Robi Ranjan Chatterjee told

The Hindu . Dhiman Das, great greatgrandson of Nobin Chandra and an executive director of K.C. Das Pvt Ltd said “we are hopeful of getting the tag as there is full documentary evidence of its origins in this state.”

Meanwhile there were reports that in its bid to establish that the famed sweet had originated from the State and to get the geographical indication tag for it, the Odisha government has formed three separate committees to justify its claim.