Government nod awaited on alphanumeric code for gold jewellery made in India

The concept of every gold jewellery manufactured in India to have its own alphanumeric identity code, is yet to get a green signal from the Indian government, reports say. The code would be a nine-digit one and will be provided by every Hallmarking and Assaying centre to a jewellery piece. This is to enable determining purity and traceability, reports say.

Although at present, there is a voluntary hallmarking of gold which takes place in India, wherein the organised retailers are retailing gold jewellery carrying the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) hallmark at a premium to local jewellers, reports add. With the new authentication code, there would be a uniform standard for gold ornaments determined and the ornaments can be resold at a uniform price. Currently, price and resale price of the gold jewellery varies per jeweller, reports say.