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The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is preparing to scale up testing of silver jewellery as demand shifts from gold amid a spike in prices, a senior BIS official said, adding that referral and assay laboratories for silver will expand nationally within two years. Silver hallmarking has been voluntary since 2005, and from September 2025 onwards, hallmarked silver articles carry a Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number, enabling buyers to verify purity. "Last year, we introduced HUID for silver jewellery as well, and demand is increasing. We have taken stock of the requirements and are ready to take up silver jewellery testing in a big way in our laboratories," BIS Deputy Director General (Laboratories) Nishat S Haque told PTI. "We will be able to handle the requirement within our own labs for roughly the next two years. Within that period, we will be expanding referral and assay laboratories across the country," she said. The number of silver jewellery articles hallmarked ros
Gold prices slipped Rs 150 to Rs 1,50,650 per 10 grams in the national capital on Monday, and silver dropped Rs 5,000, as a sluggish global trend and a firm US dollar prompted traders to trim positions in precious metals. The precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity had closed at Rs 1,50,800 per 10 grams in the preceding session. Silver snapped its four-day rally, declining Rs 5,000 to Rs 2,40,000 per kilogram (inclusive of all taxes) from Friday's closing level of Rs 2,45,000 per kg, according to local dealers. Traders said the market remained range-bound as investors balanced lingering geopolitical risks in West Asia against a stronger greenback and expectations surrounding the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy. "Gold prices experienced a slight decline in the domestic markets on Monday, as investors navigated the complex landscape of Washington-Tehran relations while awaiting key inflation data from the US," said Gaurav Garg, Research Analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk. In the ...