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Mumbai--The Indian government today approved a proposal by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to make the hallmarking of gold mandatory. Until now, hallmarking, which was introduced in 2001, has been entirely voluntary.

The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cleared the proposal by approving amendments to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986, that aims to expand the ambit of mandatory hallmarking to include more products, including gold, sources said.

The BIS currently hallmarks and certifies about 77 items, including cement, mineral water and milk products. Gold, however, could not be hallmarked as it was not included in a list specified by the Industries Development and Regulation Act. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs was empowered to hallmark and certify only those items specified in the list.

The new proposal also aims to strengthen the penal provision for better and effective compliance with the provision of BIS Act.

This article was first published on IDEX Online on Jan. 4.