India’s Food and Consumers Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said last week (November 13) that the government will soon make hallmarking mandatory for gold jewelry, according to a report in Art of Jewellery.
Hallmarking of gold, which is a purity certification of gold, is currently voluntary in India. According to Paswan, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which is the administrative authority of hallmarking, has set standards for hallmarking of gold jewelry in three grades of 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat, and will make those standards “mandatory soon”. Although he did not specify a date, the minister “stressed on the need to adopt the standards in the interest of consumers”.
Last October, it was reported that in an effort to boost the metal industry and the gems and jewelry sector and create jobs in the gold sector, the Indian government will come out with “a comprehensive gold policy soon”. According to the report, the new policy will likely focus “on promoting domestic gold industry and exports of gems and jewelry, which contributes about 15% to total merchandise outbound shipments”.
