Counterfeiting: From Grey-Market Issue to National Emergency
A visionary leader with a passion for innovation and excellence, Ankit is committed to enhancing ASPA's market presence while fostering long-term partnerships. His expertise spans across business development, leadership, and team building, making him a key figure in ASPA's success.
Every third apparel product in India risks being counterfeit. One in five pharmaceutical products faces authenticity concerns. Yet counterfeiting continues to be treated as a fragmented enforcement issue rather than the systemic economic threat it has become. Counterfeiting is no longer about fake labels it is about compromised medicines, unsafe automotive parts, damaged crops, and eroded national credibility.
Over the past decade, counterfeit networks have evolved faster than enforcement systems. What was once confined to informal markets has now penetrated e-commerce platforms, regulated supply chains, and essential sectors such as healthcare and agriculture. The scale of the problem demands that we stop viewing it as a compliance issue and start treating it as a matter of national economic security. The extent of the challenge is measurable. According to the ASPA–CRISIL Report 2022, nearly 25–30percent of products across key sectors show counterfeit presence. The report identifies apparel (31percent), FMCG (28percent), automotive components (25percent), and pharmaceuticals (20percent) among the most affected categories. These numbers are not abstract statistics they represent systemic vulnerabilities cutting across industries.
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The consumer dimension is equally concerning. The same ASPA–CRISIL 2022 report notes that while 89percent of consumers acknowledge the widespread availability of fake goods, 31 percent admit to having knowingly purchased counterfeit products at least once. This reflects a dangerous normalization of fakes driven by price sensitivity, limited access to verified retail channels, and the absence of embedded verification systems. Awareness alone cannot dismantle counterfeit supply chains. Responsibility cannot rest solely on consumers when manufacturers, retailers, digital platforms, and enforcement agencies have yet to institutionalise fail-safe authentication at every touchpoint.
The pharmaceutical supply chain illustrates what is at stake. Unique barcodes and QR codes are important first steps, but they are not sufficient. Counterfeiters replicate visible features quickly.
India must move toward mandatory multi-layered authentication combining tamper-evident packaging, overt and covert security markers, serialization, and digital verification particularly in regulated sectors such as pharma and agrochemicals.
Agriculture presents an equally urgent concern. Counterfeit seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides directly damage farm productivity and rural incomes. In a country where food security remains foundational to economic stability, weak traceability mechanisms are structural risks.
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Encouragingly, industry momentum is building. According to the ASPA–Accenture Authentication & Traceability Study (2025), India’s authentication and traceability industry was valued at Rs.9,705 crore in FY 2023–24 and is projected to reach Rs.10,612 crore in FY 2024–25, with a long-term outlook of Rs.16,575 crore by FY 2028–29 reflecting a CAGR exceeding 11 percent. Pharmaceuticals (17percent), consumer products (14 percent), cosmetics (13 percent), and automotive components (13 percent) are among the strongest demand drivers.
This growth signals a clear strategic shift. Authentication is no longer a regulatory checkbox, it is fast emerging as a core enabler of trust, operational efficiency, and global market access.
However, isolated deployment of technology will not resolve the challenge. Holographic features, secure QR systems, RFID tracking, AI-driven anomaly detection, and blockchain-based records can only deliver meaningful impact when embedded within harmonised national standards and interoperable systems. Fragmented adoption risks creating technological silos rather than systemic resilience.
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What India now requires is a unified national authentication framework that integrates regulation, industry participation, and platform accountability into a cohesive structure. Such a framework must prioritise mandatory serialization in high-risk product categories, establish stronger due-diligence obligations for e-commerce platforms, enable cross-sector interoperability, and introduce measurable enforcement benchmarks to ensure compliance is not merely procedural but outcome-driven.
India’s ambition to become a global manufacturing and export powerhouse ultimately rests on trust. The credibility of “Made in India” cannot coexist with weak domestic authentication systems. Everyday counterfeit goods circulate unchecked, the economy absorbs silent losses in revenue, in public safety, and in global confidence.