Overview of Standards
The Erstwhile Indian Standards Institution (now Bureau of Indian Standards) was established in the year 1947 with the objective of harmonious development of standardization activity in India. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) was established under the BIS Act, 1986 for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. A new Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which was notified on 22nd March 2016, has been brought into force with effect from 12 October 2017 that reinforces the activities of BIS in respect to standardization and certification of goods, articles, processes, systems and services.Formulation of Indian Standards is one of the core activities of BIS. The activity is done through 16 Division Councils representing diverse areas of economy and technology, as follows:
| Ayush | Management and Systems |
| Chemical | Mechanical Engineering |
| Civil Engineering | Petroleum, Coal and Related Products |
| Electrotechnical | Production and General Engineering |
| Electronics and Information Technology | Services Sector |
| Food and Agriculture | Textile |
| Medical Equipment And Hospital Planning | Transport Engineering |
| Metallurgical Engineering | Water Resources |
Indian Standards are formulated through specialist technical committees (functioning under the Division Councils) namely, Sectional Committees which may be supported by other technical committees like subcommittees and panels set up to deal with specific group of subjects. The committee structure is designed such as to bring together all those with substantial interest in a particular field, so that standards are developed keeping in view the balance of interests among the relevant stakeholders like manufacturers, users, technologists and regulators and after taking into account all significant viewpoints through a process of wide consultation. Decisions in BIS technical committees are reached through consensus. As a policy, the standards formulation activity of BIS has been harmonized as far as possible with the relevant standards as laid down by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). BIS, being a signatory to the ‘Code of Good Practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards (Article 4 of WTO-TBT Agreement, Annex 3)’ has also accordingly aligned its standards formulation procedure. BIS also formulates special publications including handbooks.There are more than 19500 standards formulated by BIS so far through about 1000 technical committees involving more than 15000 experts. These standards are subject to periodic review resulting in their reaffirmation, amendment, revision or withdrawal as may be required.
Standardization (Products & Methods)
The Erstwhile Indian Standards Institution (now Bureau of Indian Standards) was established in the yeIndian Standards are formulated through specialist technical committees (functioning under the Division Councils) namely, Sectional Committees which may be supported by other technical committees like subcommittees and panels set up to deal with specific group of subjects. The committee structure is designed such as to bring together all those with substantial interest in a particular field, so that standards are developed keeping in view the balance of interests among the relevant stakeholders like manufacturers, users, technologists and regulators and after taking into account all significant viewpoints through a process of wide consultation. Decisions in BIS technical committees are reached through consensus. As a policy, the standards formulation activity of BIS has been harmonized as far as possible with the relevant standards as laid down by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). BIS, being a signatory to the ‘Code of Good Practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards (Article 4 of WTO-TBT Agreement, Annex 3)’ has also accordingly aligned its standards formulation procedure. BIS also formulates special publications including handbooks. Formulation of Indian Standards is one of the core activities of BIS. The activity is done through 13 Division Councils representing diverse areas of economy and technology, as follows:
| Chemical | Medical Equipment And Hospital Planning |
| Civil Engineering | Metallurgical Engineering |
| Electrotechnical | Petroleum, Coal and Related Products |
| Electronics and Information Technology | Production and General Engineering |
| Food and Agriculture | Textile |
| Transport Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Water Resources | |
Standardization (Service Sector)
To formulate Standards on service sector including Banking and Financial Services; Education Services; Tourism Services; Accounting Services; Legal Services; Media & Entertainment Services; Health & Wellness Services; IT & ITES Services; Environment Services; Telecommunication Services; Infra & Construction Services; Transport & Logistics Services; Management & Systems. Formulation of Indian Standards is one of the core activities of BIS. The activity is done through 3 Division Councils representing diverse areas of economy and technology, as follows
| Management and Systems | Service Sector |