Now Reading: Gold price surge drives silver rush, BIS expands hallmarking labs
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Gold price surge drives silver rush, BIS expands hallmarking labs
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…
The Story in Brief
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.
The Indian Opinion
The silver hallmarking push is a sensible response to market demand, but the real test lies in execution. Doubling testing capacity within two years while maintaining in-house gold surveillance is ambitious. Consumers must watch whether the expanded lab network actually reduces turnaround times and prevents adulteration. A simple metric: can BIS process silver samples as quickly as gold samples within a year?
Sources (4): thehindubusinessline.com, rediff.com, timesnownews.com, businesstoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources.
