A geographical indication is a legal mark tying a product to a place. Punjab holds several.
Phulkari was registered as a GI for Punjab in 2011. Basmati is registered for a defined belt including Punjab and has been the subject of a long dispute with Pakistan over the European registration. Traditional brass and copper utensil making by the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list rather than the GI register.
Others registered or sought include Punjab's own varieties and craft products at various stages.
A GI matters commercially only if it is enforced and marketed, and enforcement in India is weak. Machine-made phulkari sold as phulkari continues.
The registrations are also a record of what the state thinks is distinctive about itself, which is a short list and is mostly textiles and rice.
Punjab's craft traditions, the juttis, the durries, the parandis, the woodwork, the thathera metalwork, are recognised on paper and are not commercially protected in any way that reaches the maker.
Punjab holds geographical indication tags for basmati as part of a multi-state registration, for the Phulkari, for the Jandiala Guru thathera work and for a small number of other products.
A tag establishes who may use a name. It does not create a buyer, a price floor or an organisation, and without those it changes very little for the maker.
The Punjabi jutti, the Patiala parandi, the Malerkotla and Hoshiarpur crafts and several food products have been proposed and not registered.