India should be a ‘pioneer of standards’ and good quality is non-negotiable, said Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal on Saturday.

The Union Minister said the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) should not just be an adopter of standards.

He said that the standards should be made compatible to international standards wherever possible, for example, lifts or air filters or medical items.

He added that this can be achieved through increase in stakeholder consultations and by involving industry representatives.

His remarks came while delivering a presidential address during the 77th Foundation Day of BIS. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) along with BIS jointly organised the ‘Dialogue for Strengthening Quality Ecosystem in India’ to mark the day.

The Union Minister said that Quality is King. But, Better Quality is probably the emperor.

Quality is cost effective which in turn helps the industry and consumers, and is a common factor and necessary. In his opinion Good Quality is non-negotiable. And the awareness generated by BIS where consumers, industry, exporters or importers, all understand its benefits.

He applauded the efforts of BIS in hallmarking jewelry and pointed out that mandatory hallmarking covers 343 districts. More than 4.3 lakh articles are hallmarked every day and 90% of jewellery that people are buying is hallmarked.

He said that till 2014, there were only 14 Quality Control Orders of 106 products. But, now, there are 156 QCOs of 672 products. Shri Goyal said that 90 pc of the QCOs came in last few years when Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the country.

Talking about toys, he said that 52% decline in toy imports was reported from 2015 compared to 2023 because of QCOs that mandated quality above all.

“QCO’s are being processed in nearly 2500 more items which reflects our commitment towards quality by providing high standards goods and services,” he added.

Piyush Goyal said 9 years ago, PM Modi gave the vision of Zero Defect, Zero Effect which means that India should make products of high quality that are sustainable, eco-friendly have zero climate impact.

He said that PM’s vision is being adopted and as a result the consumers have become quality conscious.

Quoting the PM, he said, “Over decades, India had been dependent on foreign standards for quality. Now India’s pace and progress will be decided by our own standards.”

He said that after studying gap analysis, comprehensive network of state of art modern labs are set up to facilitate BIS and industry. BIS recently agreed to invest Rs 40 Cr to set up 21 labs for cotton testing.

Minister called upon the industry and said that they should come forward with areas for which testing is required. He said BIS has ample funds and asked them to ensure transparent ecosystem and high surveillance for better delivery.

He further appealed to young generation to become the Young Ambassadors of Quality and of Viksit Bharat. He said that the youngsters can promote e learning, and can upgrade PARAKH initiative in colleges and universities.