Most pharma manufacturers/brands and associations downplayactual counterfeiting data: ASPAand Crisil Report

The Authentication Solution Providers' Association (ASPA) and Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) have released a new report titled, 'The state of counterfeiting in India 2022.' It reveals how counterfeiting activities are impacting the sustainable growth of the major industries in India, including pharmaceuticals, FMCG, automotives, apparel, consumer durables/electronics, and agri products, and informs that counterfeiting costs the Indian economy Rs 1 trillion every year, i.e., approx. 0.5 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The report is based on an independent survey conducted with consumers and retailers covering 12 Indian cities (Delhi, Agra, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore, Kolkata, Patna, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad) to gauge their perception of counterfeiting in several key sectors.

An important finding of the survey was that consumer perception pegged the extent ofcounterfeiting at 25-30 per cent of the market, higher than the general industry expectations. Counterfeiting is the most prevalent in FMCG, apparel, and agro-chemical sectors(~30 per cent), followed by the pharmaceutical, automotive, and consumer durables sectors(20-25 per cent).The survey also reveals thatalmost 89 per cent of consumers acknowledge the presence of fake products in the marketand are often compelled to buy counterfeits for reasons such as sensitivity to price, demand-supply gap, desire to buy luxury brands, peer pressure and social motivations.

Apparel (31 per cent), FMCG (28 per cent), and automotives (25 per cent) are the top segments where consumers came across a counterfeitproduct, followed by pharmaceuticals (20 per cent), consumer durables (17 per cent) and agrochemicals (16 per cent). Even after discovering that the product is fake, consumers take close to negligible action about reporting it.

The top 10 states – Uttar