# Gold price surge drives silver rush, BIS expands hallmarking labs 2026-08-09T10:02:01+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is scaling up silver jewellery testing as consumers shift from costly gold. BIS Deputy Director General Nishat S Haque said referral and assay laboratories for silver will expand nationally within two years. Hallmarked silver articles reached 5.9 million in 2025-26, nearly doubling from 3.2 million in the previous year, with 230 recognised testing centres currently operational. BIS has set about 23,000 standards, of which roughly 700 are mandatory. The agency tested nearly 270,000 product samples last year and now operates 10 own laboratories supported by 440 recognised private and 350 government labs. BIS is piloting a robotic arm for cement testing and integrating AI to improve speed and transparency. It also enforces a 2016 standard requiring mobile phones to support text in English, Hindi and a regional language. ## Coverage - thehindubusinessline.com - rediff.com - timesnownews.com - businesstoday.in Tags: BIS, consumer protection, gold prices, HUID, jewellery, silver hallmarking Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bis-to-scale-up-silver-hallmarking-as-gold-prices-surge/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bis-to-scale-up-silver-hallmarking-as-gold-prices-surge/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.