BIS expands silver hallmarking tests nationwide

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) plans to broaden silver jewellery testing and hallmarking across India by adding more referral and assay laboratories nationwide, officials said. The agency described the rollout as a response to higher demand for certified silver jewellery and rising pressure on existing laboratory capacity.

Officials said public and industry reaction to the plan is still pending. They linked the push to recent increases in gold prices, which officials said have led some buyers to shift toward silver, raising volumes that require purity and weight certification.

More referral and assay labs planned across states

BIS said it will expand its network of referral and assay laboratories in multiple states. The agency’s stated aim is to reduce turnaround times for hallmarking and increase the number of items that can be processed.

Officials presented the effort as a supply-side expansion designed to handle greater retail and wholesale volumes of silver that require hallmarking. They said the current system is facing strain as demand for certified jewellery grows.

Automation pilots using AI and robotics

Alongside physical capacity increases, officials said BIS has started pilots involving artificial intelligence and robotics. The stated purpose is to automate parts of the testing workflow and ease manual bottlenecks that can slow processing.

The agency said faster certification is intended to support manufacturers and retailers by speeding access to hallmarking services. BIS also said the programme is meant to strengthen consumer confidence by providing assurance on purity and weights for silver jewellery.

Timeline and what remains uncertain

BIS expects the laboratory network upgrades and the automation pilots to be rolled out within two years, officials said. They also said the overall expansion should be completed by August 9, 2028.

Key operational details have not been set out in the information provided, including which states will receive new or upgraded facilities first, how many labs will be added, and how quickly pilots could move into wider adoption. Officials did not provide capacity figures or targeted turnaround times, leaving the scale of the throughput increase unclear.