2027 is bringing Digital Product Passports (DPP) closer to reality. The EU has made DPP mandatory for certain batteries from 2027, while textiles, tyres and aluminium are among the product groups planned for DPP-related rules in 2027.
At the same time, Walmart’s RFID programme shows how item-level RFID tracking can improve inventory visibility across a large supplier network.
But can these models work at the same scale in India’s diverse and fragmented supply chain?
In this blog, we explore why India is not yet fully DPP-ready, the role of RFID and product traceability, and the key gaps in data, standardisation, interoperability, cost and supplier readiness.
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What Is the EU Digital Product Passport?
The EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a digital record that connects a physical product with relevant information about its identity, materials, sustainability and lifecycle. It is part of the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), with requirements being introduced progressively by product category.
The EU’s current indicative timeline includes textiles, tyres and aluminium in 2027, followed by furniture in 2028 and mattresses and ICT products in 2029. Certain products can also receive DPP requirements through separate EU legislation, such as the Batteries Regulation.
Depending on the product and applicable legislation, DPP information can include:
1. Product identification and characteristics
2. Materials and components
3. Manufacturing and origin information
4. Sustainability and circularity information
5. Repair and maintenance information
6. Reuse and refurbishment information
7. Recycling and end-of-life information
8. Relevant compliance and traceability information
For textiles and apparel, the European Commission currently lists Q4 2027 as the planned adoption period for the sector-specific ESPR delegated act. This is a planned regulatory milestone, not a blanket statement that every textile product will require a DPP from January 2027.
What Does Walmart’s RFID Mandate Mean?
Walmart’s RFID mandate is a strong example of RFID inventory tracking in retail. Its U.S. supply-chain guidance requires RFID tags for applicable apparel, with defined exclusions. The goal is to improve inventory visibility, stock accuracy and product traceability across store and e-commerce operations.
1. Item-level tracking: RFID helps identify individual products and improve real-time inventory visibility.
2. Faster inventory management: Supports quicker receiving, stock counting and product verification.
3. Better supply-chain visibility: Helps track product movement across key retail touchpoints.
4. Improved inventory accuracy: Reduces stock discrepancies and supports better stock control.
5. Scalable RFID adoption: Common requirements make it easier for a large retailer to implement RFID across its supplier network.
How Are RFID and DPP Connected?
RFID and Digital Product Passport (DPP) can work together to improve product traceability, supply-chain visibility and digital product data management. RFID gives a product a unique digital identity, while DPP connects that identity with relevant product, material, sustainability and lifecycle information.
Simple RFID and DPP workflow:
1. RFID Product Tracking: Helps identify products across manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and retail.
2. Better Product Traceability: RFID captures product movement and supports more accurate inventory visibility.
3. ERP and WMS Integration: RFID data can connect with existing business systems to maintain product records.
4. Supporting DPP Readiness: RFID can provide the identification layer, while businesses still need accurate and standardised product data.
5. RFID is not DPP compliance: A Digital Product Passport may use RFID, QR codes or other data carriers, depending on the applicable requirements.
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RFID thus becomes useful for businesses preparing for DPP requirements in India and global supply chains, especially where they already use RFID for inventory management, asset tracking and supply-chain traceability.
Why Is India Not Fully DPP-Ready?
India already has RFID, barcodes, ERP and WMS for digital product tracking. The bigger gap is DPP readiness across the supply chain, especially in data collection and standardisation.
1. Uneven digital adoption: Large companies may have integrated systems, while smaller suppliers may still use spreadsheets or manual records.
2. MSME readiness: Smaller businesses may need support to meet evolving DPP data requirements.
3. Fragmented supply chains: Multiple suppliers and production tiers make consistent product traceability and data sharing harder.
4. Data standardisation: DPP depends on reliable, structured product information that can move across different systems.
UNIDO’s 2025 assessment of textile companies in India and other emerging markets also identified technology, information and supply-chain readiness as key areas requiring attention.
India has the technology. The bigger challenge is making the product data connected, consistent and DPP-ready.
Why a Walmart-Like RFID Mandate Is Difficult in India
A Walmart-style RFID programme operates within a defined commercial ecosystem. Walmart can specify tagging requirements for suppliers and integrate RFID into its retail processes. Its supplier ecosystem includes more than 100,000 businesses worldwide, showing the scale of a major retailer-led network.
India is different. There is no single retailer controlling the country's manufacturing and retail supply chain.
A broad RFID mandate would therefore need to account for:
1. Different levels of digital maturity
2. RFID tag and hardware costs
3. MSME affordability
4. Supplier onboarding
5. Product identification standards
6. ERP and WMS integration
7. Data interoperability
8. Employee training
9. Infrastructure and connectivity
10. Sector-specific requirements
Why India Needs a Phased DPP Approach
India does not necessarily need to copy the EU DPP framework domestically or introduce a universal RFID mandate. A more practical approach would be phased, sector-specific and based on actual business requirements.
Indian businesses can start with:
1. Identify: Create unique product, batch or model identities where required.
2. Collect: Capture material, manufacturing and supplier information.
3. Standardize: Use consistent identifiers and data formats.
4. Connect: Integrate ERP, WMS and other relevant systems.
5. Track: Use RFID, QR codes or other data carriers where they provide value.
6. Verify: Improve the accuracy and reliability of product information.
7. Prepare: Build lifecycle data capabilities for repair, reuse, refurbishment and recycling where applicable.
Such an approach makes DPP readiness part of supply-chain digitalisation, rather than treating it as a separate compliance exercise, offering dual advantages.
The Real DPP Challenge in India
The real challenge is not putting an RFID tag or QR code on a product. It is creating the reliable data behind that product identity as required by DPP.
A DPP-ready supply chain needs:
1. Reliable product identification
2. Accurate product and material data
3. Common data standards
4. Connected business systems
5. Supplier-level data sharing
6. Verifiable information
7. Lifecycle traceability
RFID can help identify physical products. ERP and WMS can manage operational information. QR codes and other data carriers can provide access to digital product information. But none of these technologies can solve poor, incomplete or inconsistent source data. That is why India's DPP challenge is fundamentally a data-readiness and supply-chain coordination challenge, not simply an RFID technology challenge.
What Should Indian Manufacturers Do Before 2027?
Indian manufacturers and exporters should not wait for every DPP requirement to become applicable.
Businesses can begin by identifying which products may fall under relevant EU requirements and assessing their current data and technology readiness.
The practical starting points are:
1. Map product and material information across suppliers.
2. Identify gaps in existing product data.
3. Standardize product and supplier identifiers.
4. Connect ERP, WMS and traceability systems.
5. Evaluate RFID and QR codes based on the actual use case.
6. Prepare suppliers and MSMEs for structured data sharing.
7. Build processes for relevant lifecycle information.
What Are the Benefits for Indian Businesses?
For Indian manufacturers and exporters, combining product identification, RFID tracking and structured product data can create several benefits:
1. Better product traceability: Products can be identified across manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and retail.
2. Improved inventory visibility: RFID can automate item-level identification and reduce manual scanning.
3. Better export readiness: Exporters can prepare their product-data systems for applicable EU requirements.
4. Stronger lifecycle visibility: Relevant information can support repair, reuse, refurbishment and recycling.
5. Better supply chain data: A common product identity can connect information across different business systems.
6. Multiple business applications: The same identification infrastructure can support inventory, traceability, authentication and compliance.
So there is an opportunity to create a connected product information system.
In short, India does not need to choose between EU DPP, RFID and a Walmart-style RFID mandate. DPP focuses on connected product information, while RFID supports physical product identification and supply-chain tracking. The real challenge is DPP readiness in India, especially consistent data sharing across manufacturers, MSMEs and suppliers.
A practical approach is to strengthen product data standards, supply-chain connectivity and digital systems sector by sector. For India, the goal should not be to copy the Walmart RFID model or EU DPP framework directly, but to build a scalable system where RFID, ERP, WMS and product data work together to support reliable product traceability.
For businesses preparing for RFID product identification, inventory visibility and supply-chain traceability, ENCstore provides the identification hardware and consumables needed to build RFID infrastructure.
Explore UHF RFID Tags & Labels, UHF RFID Readers, RFID Antennas and UHF RFID Printers for product identification and RFID-based tracking applications.
For Indian manufacturers and exporters, the right starting point is not simply adding a tag. It is building an identification and data-capture foundation that can support traceability, inventory visibility and future product-data requirements.
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