Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Expands Mandatory Gold Hallmarking to 380 Districts

Key facts

• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has expanded mandatory gold hallmarking to seven additional districts under the sixth phase of implementation.
• The newly added districts include Rupnagar (Punjab), Banda (Uttar Pradesh), Beed (Maharashtra), Gomati (Tripura), Katihar (Bihar), Beawar (Rajasthan), and Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh).
• With this expansion, the total number of districts covered under the mandatory hallmarking regime in India has reached 380.
• Mandatory hallmarking is applicable to gold jewellery and artefacts of 14, 18, 20, 22, 23, and 24 carats.
• The BIS launched the first phase of the programme on June 23, 2021, initially covering 256 districts.
• Subsequent roll-outs included Phase 2 (April 2022) with 32 districts, Phase 3 (September 2023) with 55 districts, Phase 4 (November 2024) with 18 districts, and Phase 5 (July 2025) with 12 districts.
• As of March 5, a total of 60 crore gold items have been hallmarked to ensure consumer protection and certify gold purity.