New Delhi: India has launched one of its largest standards reviews in years, withdrawing 22 quality control orders (QCOs) in the past month, while issuing a new set of updated standards for telecom networks, fiber optics, elevators, domestic gas stoves and cyber security.
The moves — announced through several announcements over the past month — ease compliance pressures and mark a move toward modernizing India’s tech rules as the country expands its digital and urban infrastructure at an unprecedented pace.
Fifteen QCOs were withdrawn in mid-November and another seven on Monday, many of which related to petrochemical intermediates critical to downstream industries, including plastics and polymers and textiles and clothing. Government quality control orders mandate compliance with specific Indian standards for certain products. Manufacturers and importers are required to obtain a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) license and use the BIS mark before selling products in India. This is to ensure that the product is safe, consistent and reliable for both industrial use and public health.
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According to the December 1 order, the withdrawn chemical QCOs include those for p-xylene, toluene, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, vinyl acetate monomer, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer, for which BIS certification is mandatory from 2021. These substances are used in the manufacture of polyester, polyethylene terephthalate packaging, acrylic coatings, paints, pipes and beverages.
An industry leader said certification for these globally traded chemicals was difficult to secure following the introduction of the QCO and risked disrupting supply chains in the production of polyester, plastics, adhesives and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Compliance eased
The download facilitates compliance for several user sectors. P-xylene is mainly produced domestically by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), although India also imports it from Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Thailand. Toluene is produced by Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. It is used as a raw material by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) to produce toluene diisocyanate for polyurethane foams and by Deepak Nitrite to produce nitrotoluenes and other intermediates used in the rubber and agrochemical industries, pharmaceutical industry, Singapore.
Production of vinyl acetate monomer has stopped in India, leaving the country heavily dependent on imports, with supplies coming from Singapore, Saudi Arabia, China and South Korea. Ethylene dichloride is produced at complexes such as Reliance Dahej, but India still imports significant volumes from the US, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate remain import-dependent intermediates for the coatings and adhesives industry.
According to the order, the rollback was done “in the public interest” after consulting BIS and assessing the risk of bottlenecks for downstream manufacturers.
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The order from the chemicals and petrochemicals department comes after a Niti Aayog committee headed by former cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba recommended the release of the QCO. These orders increase the cost of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which import them in large quantities.
The latest cancellation of 7 more QCOs reduced the number of products under these mandatory quality standards to 736. The Center had previously targeted bringing more than 700 more products under the mandatory standards in FY26.
Earlier, Mint had reported on April 1 that the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) 2025 National Trade Estimate had identified India’s QCO regime as a trade issue, including the polyethylene regulation issued in January 2024, arguing that some norms were not in line with global norms and were distorting trade in plastics and chemicals.
Fresh standards
BIS has released a new set of revised and newly introduced standards across several infrastructure and digital sectors. The three notices issued on November 29 update the standards, which in some cases were more than two decades old.
The updated standards cover fiber optic cables and transmission equipment, cybersecurity protocols including secure timestamping, safety requirements for elevators – including evacuation elevators in high-rise buildings – and domestic gas stoves intended for expanding gas networks.
Trade experts said the two steps – removing difficult-to-implement QCOs and tightening standards where safety is critical – create a more balanced regulatory approach. They said the updated, globally harmonized standards will facilitate certification of imported telecom and cyber security equipment and support Indian exporters. Testing labs expect higher demand as companies move to new standards for fibers, elevators and gas appliances.
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“Removing QCOs, which have been difficult to implement, while tightening standards where safety really matters is a more balanced approach,” said Abhash Kumar, a trade expert and assistant professor of economics at Delhi University.
“Moving to ISO and IEC standards will reduce friction for imported telecom and cyber security equipment and also help Indian manufacturers meet global requirements,” he said.
The Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a non-governmental, independent institution that develops voluntary international standards.
According to a government official involved in the process, the decision to tighten standards stems from two concerns repeatedly raised by the communications ministry — India’s rapid technological transformation and the widening gap between domestic and global benchmarks.
India has laid more than 3.4 million km of optical fiber, and telecom operators are preparing for a denser rollout of 5G and the first trials of 6G.
Outdated standards
Many existing standards for fiber calibration, chromatic dispersion and distribution networks date from the early 2000s and have difficulty harmonizing with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) specifications used in mature telecommunications markets.
“Cybersecurity requirements have also been strengthened at a time when India processes more than 12 billion digital transactions per month. The update to secure timestamp standards is aimed at improving authentication systems for banks, fintech companies and digital identity platforms that integrate global encryption tools,” said RK Bhatnagar, CEO of Voice of Indian Commtech Enterprises (VOICE), which represents the telecom industry in India.
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The November 29 regulation also introduces revised standards and clearer requirements for elevators in buildings under construction, evacuation elevators for high-rise towers, and elevators accessible to people with disabilities. Standards for domestic gas stoves have also been updated in line with the rapid expansion of natural gas pipeline networks.
“We welcome the new lift standards that raise lift safety to a global level. With the updated SOLAS II-1/3-13 regulation coming into force soon, all new lift systems will now need to be designed, constructed, installed and certified in accordance with recognized classification society regulations, backed by comprehensive stress testing, detailed testing and regular maintenance,” said Amit Gossain, managing director and subsidiary of KONE, a global lift manufacturer HORSES.
