Indian consumers are increasingly shifting towards silver as the skyrocketing price of gold makes the yellow metal less accessible. Official data reveals a significant surge in demand for hallmarked silver items, nearly doubling from 3.2 million pieces in the 2024-25 fiscal year to 5.9 million in 2025-26.
In response to this growing trend, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standards body, is moving swiftly to enhance its testing and certification infrastructure across the country. The goal is to keep pace with the surging demand and maintain high consumer confidence in silver purity.
BIS Ramps Up Silver Hallmarking Infrastructure
Silver hallmarking, which has been voluntary in India since 2005, received a significant boost with the introduction of the Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number for silver items in September 2025. This allows buyers to track and verify the authenticity of their purchases, a move that immediately impacted demand for certified silver.
BIS Deputy Director General (Laboratories) Nishat S Haque confirmed the expansion plans. "Last year, we introduced HUID for silver jewellery as well, and demand is increasing. We have taken stock of the requirements and are ready to take up silver jewellery testing in a big way in our laboratories," Haque stated. She added that BIS plans to expand its network of referral and assay laboratories for silver nationwide over the next two years to handle the projected demand.
Currently, approximately 230 BIS-recognised Assaying and Hallmarking Centres are involved in silver testing across India.
Gold Surveillance and Broader Expansion
While expanding silver capacity, BIS continues to maintain stringent in-house control over gold surveillance. Market surveillance testing of hallmarked gold items is conducted exclusively within BIS’s proprietary laboratory setup, never outsourced, to preserve consumer confidence.
This commitment to quality is part of a broader expansion of the regulator’s testing footprint. Over the past year, BIS tested nearly 270,000 product samples across its network. The organization operates 10 standalone laboratories, complemented by a vast network established under its Laboratory Recognition Scheme since 1985.
Haque highlighted the growth: "In 2014 we had around 147 recognised laboratories and only 24 government laboratories empanelled with us. Today we are having 440 recognised laboratories and 350 empanelled laboratories."
Technology and Specialized Mandates
To enhance efficiency and precision, BIS is integrating automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics into its laboratory operations. This year, the agency is piloting a robotic arm for cement testing, with plans to roll out similar automation across other testing procedures after evaluating its speed and accuracy.
Test instruments are also being directly linked to the digital Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), ensuring unalterable data capture and complete CCTV surveillance in testing bays. Beyond precious metals, BIS manages critical specialized mandates, including testing mobile phones for regional language support and verifying commercial note-sorting machines for counterfeit currency detection, tasks mandated by the RBI.