Producing the products of best quality and standards and accepting nothing less than that, is the need of hour, Piyush Goyal said

Presiding over the third governing council meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards on Monday, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said, ‘Speed, Skill, Scale and Standard should be the new national mantra of progress.’

He said the standard testing fees should also be reduced in the initial years for the MSMEs, Start-Ups and for women entrepreneurs as this will encourage them to get their products certified and also encourage ease of doing business.

The Union Minister directed BIS to go in for massive expansion and modernization of testing labs so that entrepreneurs don't have to travel far to get the testing and certification of standards.

He said that BIS officials have to ensure that no one has to travel far for quality check for want of testing labs.

He instructed BIS to create a Customer Charter to usher in highest transparency in its certification process and inspections. He said that products manufactured in India should be of international standards whether it is manufactured for local market or for international market. It should not be diluted to give advantage to any person or institution, whether private or government.

He said that it is a challenge for BIS to fast track the standard setting processes, especially for these programs of national priority. BIS must therefore ensure that its Technical Committees develop required new standards in the quickest possible time for products where presently none exists, or review and revise existing standards whenever required.

The BIS has already formulated various Indian Standards comparable with the international standards such as the electric vehicles, fuel blends, smart city digital Infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Manufacturing, Technical Textiles, Aerial Ropeways, etc.

BIS is operating more than 37,000 product certification licences all over the country. 55 new products have been covered for the first time under the Product Certification Scheme, since April 1, 2020.

A Consumer Engagement Portal has been launched to facilitate interaction with Consumer Organizations or Groups for conducting various consumer oriented programs and activities of BIS. An upgraded version of android mobile app - BIS CARE is in place to facilitate stakeholders to verify authenticity of ISI mark, Registered Jewellers and marked electronic goods under Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS). The app also facilitates users in submitting complaints.