Biryani Fails To Get Hyderabadi Tag

Hyderabad: Who says Biryani is not a Hyderabadi dish? In fact, the 400-year association between the two makes Biryani a synonym for Hyderabad. However, this close relation between Hyderabad and Biryani is not recognized by Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry.

The delicacy has failed to secure a Geographical Indication (GI) tag which is given to a product to indicate its specific geographical location. The tag ensures the authors to use as the product name.

The recipe was first bought to Hyderabad by Nizams. The association of biryani makers failed to provide the historical documents to attain the tag. In April 2009 the Deccan Biryani Makers Association filed an application seeking a GI tag for the recipe. The registry then issued a notice saying that the application did not meet the mandated rules and asked to provide documentary evidence regarding historical date. The association did not provide any documents.

The registry issued several reports to the association to provide doucmentary proof in 2010 and 2013, but there was no reply. At last the registry issued a showcause a notice in 2016, again there was no reply from the biryani makers association.

Finally, it issued the last showcause notice in January 2017, as the committee failed to submit the documents several times, the GI tag for the biryani has been rejected.

"Reputation of the product is the basis for granting a GI tag," said the registry. "Securing of GI tag and protecting the status from infringement is not a one day show, the registered proprietor has to protect the product and its producers," it said. As the association did not fulfill the requirements, the application was rejected and "treated as abandoned for want of prosecution."