Govt issues quality control guidelines for steel products

The government has issued quality control guidelines for various steel products used in the construction industry and kitchen appliances to check imports of sub-standard items.
The Steel Ministry in consultation with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has issued the Stainless Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2015 and the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2015.
The orders are aimed at checking sale as well as import of defective or sub-standard stainless steel products.
The stainless steel products (Quality Control) order lists three grades of sheet, strip and plate that are used in manufacturing utensils and kitchen appliances.
While, the steel and steel products (Quality Control) Order lists 15 grades of steel products including hot rolled flat products, cold reduced carbon steel sheets, carbon steel billets, slabs among others.

The products listed are used in various industries including construction, heavy engineering, among other uses.
These orders specify that no person or entity shall manufacture or store for sale, sell or distribute any product which do not conform to the specified standards and do not bear standard mark of BIS.
Sub-standard or defective products that do not match the specific standard shall be disposed off as scrap as per the scheme of testing and inspection of the BIS.