The move is one of many steps taken by the government to promote Indian produce and crops in the international market

Kashmiri saffron is famous throughout the world for its colour, taste and quality and is one of the most expensive spices in the world. In order to make it a global brand, the Indian government has launched the Geographical Indication (GI) tagged saffron in the United Arab Emirates.

The spice was launched by Principal Secretary Navin K Choudhary, Principal Secretary Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare Department of Jammu and Kashmir, in the presence of Consul General of India to Dubai and Northern Emirates Dr Aman Puri, at the UAE-India Food Security Summit 2020 on Wednesday.

The Government of Jammu and Kashmir took to Twitter to inform about the same. It wrote, “GI tagged Saffron from Kashmir launched in Dubai, UAE, by Principal Secretary Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare Department, J&K, Navin K. Choudhary.”


The move is one of many steps taken by the government to promote Indian produce and crops in the international market with special focus on Kashmiri spices.

“J&K is participating in UAE-India Food Security Summit, 2020 with an aim to promote horticulture produce of Union Territory in the international market and tap the Gulf market,” it wrote further.

The event was also attended by Kamal Vachani, Group Director of Al Maya Group which has launched the Kashmiri saffron in the UAE market. Similarly, the Lulu Group has also sourced horticulture produce from J&K for the Middle East.

The company also plans to procure apples, walnuts and saffron from the valley. The company has already shipped 10 containers (200 tonnes) of three apple variants from the region to the Middle East market, several reports said.

On the other hand, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is all set to double its agricultural and horticultural produce with help of technological intervention and the GI tag is one such intervention.

Kashmiri saffron, or ‘Zafran’ as the locals say, was given a GI tag in May this year with an aim to promote it as a global brand. The GI tag will help the royal spice to acquire more prominence in the export market.

GI certification establishes specific geographical origin and certifies certain unique qualities of the produce or product.

The GI certification can also help in ending the malpractice of adulteration of Kashmir saffron, leading to much better prices for the authentic produce.