What Sunrise 2027 Means for Indian Brands

Indian brand owners are hearing two very different messages about 2027. One says "barcodes are changing and you must act now". The other says "it's a foreign retail project that doesn't concern us". Neither is quite right, and the useful answer depends on what you make and how you sell it.

This guide explains what Sunrise 2027 actually is, where GS1 India fits, how it differs from the sector regulations Indian manufacturers already deal with, and what it means for FMCG, cosmetics, electrical, building-materials and industrial brands.

The short version for Indian brands

• It is a global retail objective. The aim is for checkout systems everywhere to read product numbers from 2D barcodes as well as from today's linear barcodes.
• It is not an Indian law. No Indian regulation makes Sunrise 2027 compulsory, and GS1 India presents 2D codes as a voluntary business choice.
• Your EAN-13 barcode stays. During the transition, GS1 rules require the linear barcode to remain on retail packs alongside any 2D code.
• Relevance varies a lot by sector. A shampoo sold through modern retail and a coil of house wire sold through electrical distributors face very different decisions.

What Ambition 2027 actually is

GS1, the not-for-profit standards body behind retail barcodes, describes the goal as an industry ambition: that "retail point-of-sale (POS) scanning [will] be globally capable of reading and processing the GTIN from both existing linear and 2D barcodes by the end of 2027."

Three things follow from that sentence.

First, the target is the checkout, not the pack. It asks retailers and their technology suppliers to make POS (point-of-sale) scanners and software able to read a 2D code. That may mean a software upgrade, and sometimes new imaging scanners, because older laser scanners cannot read 2D barcodes at all.

Second, what the checkout reads is the GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) — the same product number that sits under your EAN-13 barcode today. A 2D barcode simply carries that number in a different form, and can carry more alongside it, such as batch and expiry.

Third, only three 2D formats count for general retail checkout:

A QR code that only points to a campaign page is not one of them. Nor is the older "GS1 QR Code" element-string format. For retail, the Digital Link web address must also be in its uncompressed form.

The middle option is the one most Indian brands find interesting, because the same QR code can be read by a phone camera and by a modern checkout. At the till, the scanner software extracts the GTIN from the web address without going online, and the retailer prices the item from its own system exactly as it does today. Our main explainer on what Sunrise 2027 is and isn't covers the global picture in more depth.

Dual marking: why nothing disappears in 2027

GS1's rules say that on general retail items, a 2D code is used in addition to the EAN-13 (or other linear) barcode, not instead of it. That continues until 90% of POS scanning solutions can read at least the GTIN from a GS1 2D code. The 2D code sits within 50 mm of the centre of the linear barcode, and both must carry the same GTIN.

There is no fixed switch-off date for linear barcodes. Some retailers may move their own-label goods to a single 2D code earlier, but that is a retailer decision about its own products. For a brand, the practical rule is simple: keep your EAN-13, and add a 2D code when it earns its place. We explain the reasoning in why 1D and 2D barcodes will coexist, and the Indian-specific version in do Indian manufacturers need to replace their existing barcodes?

Where GS1 India fits

GS1 India describes itself as "the only authorised body in India" for barcodes starting with 890. It was set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry together with bodies including CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM and BIS. That government-linked origin sometimes leads people to assume GS1 India's programmes are regulatory. They are not: GS1 India licenses numbers, runs services and convenes industry.

Three parts of its work matter here:

• NIFR (National Industry Forum for Retail). GS1 India uses this forum to coordinate the 1D-to-2D migration in Indian retail, using the term "Ambition 2027". Its overview material reports a pilot at a large Indian retailer with 2D codes carrying the GTIN plus batch, expiry and MRP (maximum retail price).
• DataKart. GS1 India calls DataKart "India's National Product Data Repository". It is a store of product data supplied by brands, not of your production records or scan history.
• Education on GS1 Digital Link. GS1 India promotes QR codes carrying GS1 Digital Link as a way to give consumers product information, framed as a business choice rather than an obligation.

One detail worth getting right: an 890 prefix means GS1 India issued the numbering range. It does not mean "made in India". See what a GS1 Company Prefix actually does.

Sector regulation is a separate question

Indian manufacturers already live with labelling rules, and it is easy to blur them with Sunrise 2027. Keep them apart.

Pharmaceuticals have real QR and barcode rules. Under G.S.R. 20(E) of 18 January 2022, every active pharmaceutical ingredient (API, or bulk drug) made or imported in India must carry a QR code at each level of packaging from 1 January 2023. Under G.S.R. 823(E) of 17 November 2022, batches of the 300 formulation brands listed in Schedule H2 made on or after 1 August 2023 must carry a bar code or QR code on the label holding eight specified data elements. CDSCO's published FAQ says the unique product identification code is set by the manufacturer under its own procedures — the rule does not mandate GS1. These rules apply to those drug categories only.

FMCG and cosmetics: we have not identified a general Indian legal requirement to print a QR code or 2D barcode on everyday consumer goods. Cables and wires: likewise, we have not identified a barcode or QR requirement in the rules for these products. For other categories, such as building materials, check sector rules with your advisers rather than assuming either way.

That is a summary, not legal advice. Regulations change, and your regulatory team or advisers should confirm what applies to your specific products. The point for this guide is narrower: whatever the regulators require, Sunrise 2027 neither adds to it nor replaces it.

Why relevance varies by sector

The same 2D code can do three jobs: let a retail checkout read the GTIN, connect a consumer or channel partner to a digital service, and identify a batch or individual unit for traceability. Which job matters most depends on your route to market.

Each has its own guide:

• GS1 2D readiness for Indian FMCG and cosmetics brands
• GS1 and connected packaging for cables, wires and electrical products
• GS1 and connected packaging for laminates and building materials
• When GS1 2D is a retail opportunity vs a traceability opportunity — a decision framework covering industrial and mixed-channel businesses

Your existing QR programme is a starting point

Many Indian brands already print QR codes at large scale — for electrician and carpenter rewards, scratch-and-scan offers, or warranty registration. Most of these codes are proprietary: a random token that only the brand's own platform understands. They work, and the relationships built on them are valuable.

GS1 Digital Link does not ask you to throw that away. It asks a different question: could the code you already print also carry your GTIN in a standard form, so the same square of packaging space serves the checkout, the consumer and your loyalty logic? The usual path is to keep old codes resolving, introduce GTIN-based Digital Link codes on new packs, and map your campaign and reward rules onto the product identity. We set out the steps in how existing QR programmes can evolve toward GS1 Digital Link.

A worked example: two Indian brands, two answers

Kesar Naturals, a fictional cosmetics brand, sells face washes and hair oils through modern retail chains, pharmacies and two large marketplaces. Its biggest retail customer has started asking suppliers about 2D codes with batch and expiry. For Kesar Naturals, Ambition 2027 is directly relevant. It plans to add a QR code carrying GS1 Digital Link at its next artwork revision, encoding the GTIN plus batch and expiry, next to the existing EAN-13. Consumers scanning it see usage guidance; the retailer's upgraded checkout reads the GTIN.

Volta Cables, a fictional wire manufacturer, sells most of its house wire through electrical distributors and runs a long-standing electrician rewards scheme using scratch-panel QR codes. Its checkout exposure is small. For Volta, the 2027 retail date matters far less than three other questions: can each coil carry an identity its electricians scan for points, can that identity help spot counterfeit coils in the market, and can distributors see which batch went where? A GS1 Digital Link built on Volta's GTINs, with a serial number per coil, can serve all three — and happens to be checkout-ready if a retail chain ever lists the product.

Same standard, different reasons to adopt it.

Questions to settle in the next year

Rather than treating 2027 as a deadline, use it as a prompt for a few concrete decisions:

1. Which of your retail customers in India and abroad have asked about 2D? Their timetable, not the calendar, sets yours.
2. Do you have GTINs for every pack you sell? Digital Link is built from the GTIN, so gaps in your numbering show up quickly.
3. What data would you put in the code? GTIN only, GTIN with batch and expiry, or a serial number per unit for loyalty and anti-counterfeit work. See batch-level vs unit-level identification.
4. Can your packaging lines print it? Variable 2D codes at line speed, at a quality retail scanners accept, is often the real constraint.
5. Who will you work with? If you are evaluating vendors, our guide to GS1 India solution providers explains what that programme does and does not tell you.

The bottom line

Sunrise 2027 is a worldwide retail objective that India's retail industry is taking part in through GS1 India. It is not a government rule, it does not retire EAN-13, and it does not override the drug-labelling regulations some manufacturers already follow. Whether it is urgent for you depends on where your products are sold — and for many Indian brands, the bigger prize is not the checkout at all, but a single product identity that also serves loyalty, anti-counterfeit and traceability work.