BIS Boosts Silver Hallmarking Amid Gold Price Shift

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is expanding its silver hallmarking testing nationwide, introducing a Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number for purity verification. The move comes as demand shifts from gold to silver due to a spike in gold prices.

Last year, BIS introduced HUID for silver jewellery, and the number of hallmarked silver articles rose to 5.9 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year from 3.2 million in 2024-25.

BIS Deputy Director General (Laboratories) Nishat S Haque said that the agency will be able to handle the requirement within its own labs for roughly the next two years, during which time it will expand referral and assay laboratories across the country.