Jharkhand: Temple town Deoghar hopes to get GI tag for its pedas

DUMKA: Temple town Deoghar, which is also famous for its pedas, hopes to bag the GI tag for its pedas after it sent consignments to markets in Bahrain. The Jharkhand Milk Fed (Medha) last week prepared 32kg pedas at its plant in Deoghar to meet the export order.
Earlier in 2020, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) along with the Deoghar district administration had applied for the geographical indication (GI) tag for the product so as to secure its unique global identity.
Sudhir Kumar Singh, the MD of Medha, said, "We have shipped our maiden consignment of 32kg pedas to the Bahrain on October 20, after meeting the required parameters in a series of quality tests that we conducted. We are hopeful of receiving a fresh order in the next one week. The cost of peda has been fixed at Rs 470 per kg for the international market and Rs 450 per kg for the domestic market. The peda made by Medha remains imperishable for a fortnight after been shipped to Bahrain via Kolkata."
"Initiatives are also being taken to export 'gulab jamun' and 'kheer mix' to global markets in the near future," he added.
"Medha procures milk from local farmers and adopts hygienic and quality methods to prepare its items," a district administration official involved in the exercise said.
The brainchild of Deoghar deputy commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri, the initive was launched in May when a sample of two kgs of pedas was sent to Bahrain after passing the quality test through the APEDA).
Peda is a major contributor to the economy of the temple town. Lakhs of devotees arrive here throughout the year from across the country to offer obesience at the Babadham temple. Nearly 50 lakh devotees come here during the month-long 'Shrawani Mela' alone and purchase peda from the hundreds of shops situated around the Babadham temple for offering to the deity and also take home.