Fake luxury products market in India to double by 2015: Study

The counterfeit luxury retail market in India is likely to double to Rs 5,600 crore by 2015 and steps such as effective intellectual property enforcement are the need of the hour to curb this menace, an Assocham study says.
"Corrective measures need to be taken to lock down the emergence and existence of counterfeit goods market in the form of effective intellectual property enforcement, plugging loop holes in the legal & judicial structure and higher conviction rates," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.
The fake luxury products market is currently about Rs 2,500 crore.
"There is a sizeable revenue loss borne by global luxury retailers as fake products cause major hurdles for them in conducting operations in India," he added.

Market for fake luxury goods in India is growing at twice the growth rate of genuine luxury products and is largely being driven by web shopping portals that account for over 25 per cent of the fake luxury goods market in India, the study claimed.
The counterfeit luxury products market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 40 to 45 per cent atleast till 2015, it added.

At present, the size of counterfeit luxury products in India is five per cent of the overall market size of the country's luxury industry which is worth USD 8 billion, according to Assocham.

"There is an urgent need to educate customers on brand heritage and create awareness about original products as they cannot be substituted. Luxury brand owners and online service providers also need to work in tandem to address the sale of counterfeits and protect trademarks on Internet," Rawat said.
With a share of about seven per cent, fake luxury products account for USD 22 billion of the global luxury industry worth USD 320 billion.
"Over 80 per cent of the entire imitation luxury products in India come from China," Rawat said, adding that majority of counterfeit luxury goods sold comprise handbags, watches, shoes, clothes, hats, sunglasses, perfume and jewellery.