The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) may include gold bullion under mandatory hallmarking regime, and set standardization norms for silver, said Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi at Governing Council Meeting of BIS held recently
New Delhi: Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New & Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi presided over the 9th Governing Council Meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in New Delhi recently. Addressing the meeting, the Minister, also ex-officio President of the Governing Council of BIS, said that the BIS has brought 371 districts in the country under the mandatory hallmarking scheme of jewellery and directed that more districts be added in the coming year according to the phased rollout plan. He laid special emphasis on making industry and other stakeholders more aware of BIS initiatives.
The Governing Council reviewed key developments and discussed the way forward for BIS’s strategic initiatives such as plans to include gold bullion and silver under mandatory hallmarking, expansion of Indian quality standards across sectors, and allocating more funds to upgrade BIS testing infrastructure.
The Minister stressed upon the importance of Indian standards for various products and services and appreciated the milestone achievements of BIS with formulation of 23798 Indian standards across sectors.
Highlighting the contribution of BIS in promoting a quality ecosystem, the Minister said that BIS is more than a regulator and urged it to act as a facilitator by adopting an industry-friendly approach and promoting the adoption of BIS mark on a voluntary basis. In order to strengthen the regulatory system, he emphasized that BIS should have zero tolerance towards any malpractices.
Notably, after hallmarking of gold jewellery became mandatory, consumers and several stakeholders in the industry have been demanding hallmarking of silver jewellery and artefacts. In December 2024, media reports said that a scheme for mandatory hallmarking for silver was under consideration and several issues in terms of implementation – such as durability of the HUID mark on a silver surface – were being worked out.
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