Much to the jubilation of the Indian gem and jewellery industry, the Union Cabinet has today cleared a proposal to make hallmarking of gold, compulsory. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under the Consumer Affairs Ministry, is the administrative authority of hallmarking.

The clearnace comes in as the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved amendments to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986, which seek to expand the scope of mandatory hallmarking towards more products, gold being one of them, reports say. At present hallmarking of gold is voluntary in the country.

At present, about 77 items fall under the mandatory hallmarking certification under the BIS Act. The BIS hallmark is a standard and mark of conformity of the quality of the product.