Recalibrating quality regime

India must align regulations with manufacturing ambition

- 

Ahigh-level committee headed by NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba has reportedly suggested scrapping or deferring more than 200 quality-control orders (QCOs) issued under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act.

These orders, meant to curb substandard imports and ensure consumer safety, have grown far beyond their original purpose. The number of products covered has risen from fewer than 100 a decade ago to about 800 today, extending beyond finished goods to raw materials and intermediates. This expansion has come at a cost. Certification delay, rising compliance burdens, and supply-chain bottlenecks have slowed production, especially for micro, small, and medium enterprises. What began as a drive to improve quality has, in many cases, turned into bureaucratic overreach, essentially to create import barriers. The certification process under the BIS often takes months, and for smaller firms, already operating on thin margins, such rigidities act as barriers to growth and innovation.