Prelims: Current events of national and international importance | Economy
Why in news?
On the occasion of World Standards Day 2026 at the national event hosted in New Delhi, the Bureau of Indian Standards unveiled the BIS Silver Refinery Scheme.
- BIS Silver Refinery Scheme – It is intended to establish a dedicated BIS certification framework focused on the quality and conformity of refined silver produced by refineries.
- BIS already has a refinery/mint certification framework for gold bullion and coins, while silver is covered under the broader hallmarking framework for applicable jewellery and artefacts.
- Focus on – The BIS Silver Refinery Scheme focus on
- Silver purity (fineness) standards
- Testing and assaying procedures
- Refinery operations and inspections
- Documentation and traceability
- Continuous surveillance and quality monitoring.
- This would provide buyers and businesses with an additional mechanism to assess the quality and reliability of silver supplied by certified refineries.
- Nodal Ministry – Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
- Under Development – The Silver Refinery Certification Scheme is currently under development and should not be treated as an already-launched mandatory certification requirement.
- Need for certification – India has a large and growing silver market involving refineries, bullion dealers, jewellers, manufacturers, institutional buyers and investors.
- As the importance of refined silver increases, a structured certification framework could help create greater confidence in the purity and quality of silver entering organised markets.
- Eligible Purity Grades – Fine silver bullion and coins of 3 purity grades: 999.9, 999.5, and 999.0 parts per thousand (ppt), have been included in the scope of the standard, with provision for hallmarking by BIS-licensed refineries and mints.
- Working – Under the scheme, BIS will grant a license to qualified silver refineries and mints after assessing their technical competence, refining processes, and testing infrastructure.
- Licensed facilities will be authorised to apply the official BIS hallmark to silver bullion and coins conforming to the prescribed requirements.
- For assured authenticity and traceability across the precious metals supply chain, hallmarked silver bullion and coins will bear a standardised BIS mark comprising the BIS Standard Mark accompanied by the word SILVER, purity grade, the manufacturer’s identification mark and a unique serial number for batch traceability.
- Significance – It is important for India's bullion and precious-metals industry because it could introduce a more structured system for quality assurance, testing, traceability and certification of refined silver bullion and coins.
Reference
PIB | Launch of BIS Silver Refinery Scheme
