The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) expanded and modernised its nationwide testing infrastructure in 2025, reinforcing its role as the country’s apex body for conformity assessment. Testing continues to remain a central pillar of BIS’s regulatory framework, ensuring that consumer and industrial products conform to Indian Standards through scientifically validated procedures. BIS currently operates ten laboratories across India—including its Central Laboratory, four Regional Laboratories in Chennai, Kolkata, Mohali and Mumbai, and Branch Laboratories in Bengaluru, Guwahati, Patna, Jammu and Hyderabad—covering chemical, mechanical, electrical, microbiological and textile testing. Gold Assaying and Hallmarking Laboratories also function in Sahibabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Patna, Chennai, Jammu and Hyderabad.
To maintain global alignment, all BIS laboratories operate in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025, while an additional network of 409 recognised outside laboratories and 318 specialised Government laboratories, including 108 active on the LIMS platform, supplement internal capacity across specialised product segments. During 2025, BIS significantly expanded its testing capabilities, commissioning more than 40 new complete test facilities across its laboratories for a wide range of products including HDPE/PP woven sacks, disposable diapers, PVC-U threaded column pipes, sodium bichromate, disinfectant fluids, polypropylene sheet products, stainless steel infant feeding bottles, cable-related tests, cement and plywood items, laminated woven sacks, footwear and other critical categories. More than 20 existing facilities were upgraded to full testing capability, enabling comprehensive assessment of products such as AAC blocks, sanitary napkins, leather protective footwear, HDPE/PP woven sacks for varied commodities, footwear, and electrical safety under IS 302 Part 1. BIS also operationalised testing in new domains such as Digital Television Receivers (IS 18112), CCTV cybersecurity, Note Sorting Machine performance and cotton bale testing, supporting the rollout of Quality Control Orders across emerging product lines.
The year also saw a comprehensive modernisation exercise across BIS laboratories, focusing on advanced equipment procurement, automation and infrastructure upgrades. Equipment purchases exceeding ₹10 crore were undertaken, including DSC analysers, Spark-OES, ICP‑MS, UV‑visible systems, micro‑ohm meters, endurance testers and environmental chambers. Between January and November 2025, more than 40 laboratory instruments were automated—ranging from tensile machines and turbidity meters to weatherometers, power analyzers and digital burettes—improving accuracy, test repeatability and operational throughput. Infrastructure upgrades included renovated testing halls, refurbished sampling zones, new lifts, improved ventilation systems, enhanced electrical networks, new workstations and secure storage units. CCTV systems across all BIS labs were also integrated into a centralised real‑time monitoring platform.
A key digital reform underway is the integration of laboratory testing equipment with the LIMS portal to automate real‑time test data capture and eliminate manual entry. So far, 181 instruments have been digitally integrated, enabling automated calculations as per Indian Standards and improving accuracy, consistency and data integrity. BIS now plans to extend these capabilities to equipment without digital interfaces through custom IT tools, aiming for complete automation and transparency across its laboratory ecosystem.
The Laboratory Recognition Scheme continued expanding through the year, with more than 50 private laboratories recognised between January and November 2025 and over 40 Government laboratories empanelled, including IOCL laboratories, textile testing facilities and key research institutions. Recognitions spanned mechanical, chemical, polymer, electrical, textile and metallurgical domains, strengthening national testing capacity in critical regulatory areas such as CCTV cybersecurity and digital television receiver testing. These developments collectively enhanced BIS’s readiness to support new Quality Control Orders and ensured robust testing capability for a fast‑evolving Indian manufacturing landscape.
