BIS should strengthen consumer initiative, outreach: Pralhad Joshi

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday called upon the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to strengthen its consumer outreach and publicity initiatives to ensure that citizens in both urban and rural areas are aware of the importance of standards.

He emphasised the need to focus on quality to achieve the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat, while promoting innovation, indigenous technology, and sustainable industrial growth.

Advertisement

The Union Minister further encouraged all stakeholders to adopt the Swadeshi campaign and extended his best wishes for continued excellence of BIS.

“The government is harmonising the scope of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) for mandatory certification to curb the circulation of substandard goods while being considerate towards the requirements of the domestic MSME sector,” Joshi said at the celebration of World Standards Day 2025, organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). While virtually addressing the event, the Union Minister emphasised that BIS must achieve a sustainable balance between these two objectives.

Joshi congratulated the BIS for organising the celebration of World Standards Day 2025 and said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is moving ahead with renewed purpose to ensure that every citizen has access to safe, reliable, and high-quality products and services.

The Union Minister informed that over 22,300 standards are currently in force and that 94 percent of Indian standards have been harmonized with ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards. The number of new standards formulated has increased from 407 in 2014 to 1,038 in 2025. Products under mandatory certification have also grown from 106 products under 14 QCOs in 2014 to 773 products under 191 QCOs plus two horizontal QCOs in 2025.