The government plans to make the Hallmarking regulations compulsory for all gold jewellery sold in the country from next year.
“All gold products to be sold in India should be under Hallmarking regulations from January next year. As most Indians understand purity of gold in terms of carat, gold ornaments bear not just the Hallmarking value (such as 916 or 958) but also their carat value too,” Union Minister for Consumer Affairs Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar to mark World Standards Day here on Friday.
The Department of Consumer Affairs is working on bringing the Hallmarking regulations under the new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act 2016, the Minister said.
The revision of the standards on gold would also ensure that only categories of 14, 18 and 22 carat would be sold in the country, Paswan said. Currently ornaments of a wide range of carat values are sold in jewellery shops in the country.
The Minister asked BIS officials to have regulations in place by January for the smooth implementation of the scheme.
Construction material The department plans to ensure companies that make construction materials strictly adhere to standards laid down. This is absolutely essential for ensuring of safety of dwellings, he said.
According to Paswan, the department may allow BIS to rope in certified private agencies to check whether manufacturers are actually conforming to standards prescribed in areas where the standards body is short staffed.
Earlier, inaugurating the seminar ‘Standards make cities smarter’, the Minister said building a smart city is a highly complex task having its own challenges and standards are the only common denominator that can simplify this task.
National standards make the smart cities work safely and smoothly.
Besides, it provides important guidance for all aspects of city life, including energy-efficient buildings, intelligent transportation, and improved waste management, thereby builds sustainable communities, he said.