BIS to make jewellery hallmarking compulsory

The Indian government will make the hallmarking of gold jewellery mandatory from January 2008, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has declared.

In order to maintain the purity of the gold that is manufactured in India, the BIS will launch the hallmarking system as, at present, the process in non-compulsory and so only a small proportion of retailers opt for hallmarking.

Deputy director general of the BIS, A S Basu, explained that one of the reasons why the bureau was seeking to introduce hallmarking of gold jewellery in India was that presently "consumers are not aware about it".

Of 800 tonnes worth of gold that India consumes each year, Mr Basu told a seminar entitled Are you buying pure gold? that 680 tonnes of this figure was used in the manufacture of jewellery.

Under the provisions of the BIS Act, 1986, the BIS became the only authority in India to take charge of the country's hallmarking of gold jewellery.