Mr Ankit Gupta
President,
ASPA

The TVC Media team had the privilege of speaking with Mr. Ankit Gupta, recently elected President of the Authentication Solution Providers' Association (ASPA) for 2025-27. As Joint Managing Director of Holostik Group, Mr. Gupta continues a legacy of leadership—his late father, Shri U.K. Gupta, previously held the same position. In this exclusive conversation, he shares insights on combating counterfeiting, strengthening traceability, and building a secure textile value chain for India.

Traceability is increasingly being discussed in the context of sustainability and compliance. In this backdrop, how do authentication and anti-counterfeiting solutions strengthen these goals across the textile value chain?

The growing emphasis on traceability in the textile value chain is closely linked to sustainability, compliance, and transparency expectations. According to the ASPA–Accenture report, adoption of authentication and traceability solutions in the apparel and footwear segment remains relatively low at around 10 percent, while only about 9 percent of solution providers in India currently cater to this sector, highlighting a significant gap and opportunity.

The report indicates that demand for authentication solutions in textiles is being driven by the rapid growth of e-commerce and the rising circulation of counterfeit goods, particularly in branded and premium apparel. Authentication and anti-counterfeiting technologies enable end-to-end visibility, allowing products to be tracked from sourcing and manufacturing through distribution and sale. As India becomes increasingly integrated into the global textile supply chain and supplies to international markets expand, such end-to-end visibility becomes essential to ensure that only genuine and authenticated products move across borders and meet global compliance expectations. Phygital approaches combining secure holograms, QR or NFC codes, and blockchain-based verification allow monitoring from fibre to finished garment, ensuring materials and processes meet regulatory and sustainability benchmarks.

Beyond brand protection, these solutions support sustainability and compliance by providing credible information on sourcing, materials, and production practices, which is increasingly important for regulators, global buyers, and conscious consumers. While the apparel segment is currently categorised as relatively flat, with growth at around 3 percent, the report projects this to rise to nearly 7 percent as traceability and compliance requirements strengthen. Aligning systems with global standards such as ISO 22383 ensures scalability and consistency across markets.

With e-commerce and omnichannel retail reshaping the way consumers purchase textiles, how has this shift affected the nature of counterfeiting, and what role can authentication play in restoring consumer trust?

The rapid growth of e-commerce and omnichannel retail has fundamentally changed how counterfeit textiles enter the market. Digital platforms allow counterfeiters to operate anonymously, use misleading imagery, and leverage social media-driven discovery and fast-delivery models. ASPA–CRISIL research highlights that many consumers still lack the awareness or tools to verify authenticity at the point of purchase, making online channels particularly vulnerable.

As a result, counterfeiting has shifted from being solely a supply-chain issue to a consumer trust challenge. Authentication addresses this gap through instant, point-of-use verification. Consumer-facing tools such as QR or NFC features, secure holograms linked to digital records, and mobile-enabled verification allow buyers to confirm authenticity before or immediately after purchase, restoring confidence in digital marketplaces.

When authentication tools are embedded into product listings, packaging, and post-purchase engagement, they reduce reliance on visual cues or price-based judgments. Combined with consumer awareness initiatives, authentication protects brands while empowering buyers, making trust verifiable rather than assumed in the omnichannel textile ecosystem.

ASPA works closely with solution providers, brands, and policymakers. What forms of collaboration are essential to ensure a secure and transparent textile value chain in India?

A secure and transparent textile value chain in India requires structured, data-driven, and technology-led collaboration. Counterfeiting intersects not only with brands but also with consumer safety, compliance, exports, and the credibility of India’s manufacturing ecosystem, making alignment between solution providers, brands, regulators, enforcement agencies, and policymakers essential.

Evidence-based research partnerships such as ASPA’s collaborations with CRISIL and Accenture have played a key role in quantifying counterfeiting, identifying supply-chain vulnerabilities, and highlighting priority areas for authentication and traceability interventions. Building on this work, ASPA and CRISIL are currently developing a new comprehensive counterfeiting report to provide updated, sector-wide insights and inform policy and industry action.

Multi-stakeholder platforms are equally important in translating research into implementation. The Traceability and Authentication Forum (TAF) 2025 brought together government authorities, brands, technology providers, and law enforcement agencies to deliberate on regulatory coherence, emerging technologies, and sector-specific challenges. With the next edition expected in 2026, this sustained dialogue reflects growing recognition that collaboration is critical. Such platforms help ensure that policy intent, technology adoption, and on-ground enforcement move in sync rather than in silos.

Counterfeiting continues to pose challenges for the textile and apparel sector. From an economic and brand perspective, what is the extent of its impact today?

Counterfeiting has a significant economic and reputational impact on the textile and apparel sector. Fast fashion cycles, easily replicable designs, and the expansion of e-commerce and social media-led selling have enabled counterfeiters to bypass traditional retail checks and reach consumers directly.

Economically, counterfeiting diverts spending from the formal economy, causing substantial losses to legitimate businesses and the exchequer. The ASPA–CRISIL 2022 report highlights that apparel is among the sectors with the highest counterfeit penetration, estimated at nearly 30–40 percent. This leakage affects GST and customs revenues, and places added pressure on compliant manufacturers in a labour-intensive sector critical to India’s industrial and export landscape. This challenge is amplified as Indian textile manufacturers become more embedded in global supply chains, where the presence of counterfeit products can undermine buyer confidence and India’s credibility as a reliable source of genuine apparel.

From a brand perspective, counterfeit products dilute brand equity by associating established labels with inconsistent quality. ASPA–CRISIL findings show that reputational damage often extends beyond immediate revenue loss, weakening differentiation and long-term loyalty.

Having led anti-counterfeiting efforts for over two decades, ASPA has seen the evolution of this challenge first-hand. In your view, what are the most pressing hurdles the industry must overcome to stay ahead of counterfeiters?

Counterfeit networks today are increasingly sophisticated, exploiting physical and digital vulnerabilities across expanding e-commerce and omnichannel platforms. Fragmented global supply chains, rapid design cycles, and shorter product lifespans make monitoring and enforcement more complex. With Indian textile supply chains increasingly connected to global markets, any weakness in authentication or traceability can be exploited at scale, making the assurance of genuine products a strategic necessity rather than an operational choice.

A key challenge is achieving end-to-end integration of technology-driven solutions across the value chain. This requires wider adoption of phygital authentication frameworks that link secure physical markers with digital verification layers for real-time traceability and product intelligence. Brands must move beyond standalone measures and combine physical authentication with tools such as blockchain-enabled traceability and AI-led risk assessment.

Technology alone, however, is not sufficient. Effective countermeasures depend on cross-sector collaboration, aligned standards, shared intelligence, and stronger consumer awareness. Without this integrated approach, the industry risks remaining reactive rather than staying ahead of increasingly agile counterfeit networks.