Kolkata: West Bengal government will manufacture Bengal’s delectable Rosogolla (Rasgulla) with the help of Jadavpur University’s food technology department.
The decision was taken after Bengal bagged Rasgulla’s Geographical Indications (GI) status following a bittersweet battle with the Odisha government over the origin of the coveted dessert.
"The animal resources development department of the state government will manufacture Rasogolla. The product will be sold under the banner of Mother Dairy Kolkata brand. The dessert will be made using machines," said Swapan Debnath, the minister of the department.
West Bengal was given GI tag for ‘Banglar Rasogolla’ in November, 2017.
After four months, the status was challenged by Ramesh Chandra Sahoo, the chairman of regional development trust in Odisha who filed a rectification petition demanding the cancellation of Bengal’s GI registration of the sweet. Bengal, too, filed a counter statement to defend its claim.
On October 31 this year, the GI Registry dismissed the petition because of the delay by Odisha to present evidence in support of its petition within the stipulated time.
An official of the animal resources development department said the price of the state-manufactured Rasgulla would be Rs 10 for each one. "The sweet will be available in packets containing two, five and 10 pieces,"’ he said.
The official explained the feasibility of the government’s venture in a field for the first time where thousands of sweet shop owners manufacture Rasgulla on their own and some of them have already earned remarkable reputation across the country and in overseas. "The private manufacturers hardly engage experts to produce Rosogolla. We are taking help of the food technology experts of Jadavpur University. They are conducting research to ensure our product will have more mouth-watering taste than the dessert available in private shops," he said.
The dessert will be manufactured at Mother Dairy’s Dankuni unit in Hooghly district.
"Orders for machines have already been placed. The experts of the Jadavpur University visited the unit already. Production will be started shortly. Initially, we will not deliver the first round of production in the market. Experts will carry out research works on it and once they give us a nod after considering the taste and quality of the product, our Rasogolla will hit the market,’’ said another official working on his project.