Punjab, Haryana small units shy away from BIS

There are more than 200,000 small-scale units in Punjab and Haryana and only 2,600 (1,200 in Punjab and 1,400 in Haryana), which amounts to just 1.3 per cent of the total SSIs in the two states, have sought licence from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

BIS Northern Regional Office (Chandigarh) Deputy Director General Chandra Shekhar said most of the small units in the region were ancillaries of automobile units (tractors, cars and two-wheelers) and were not aware of benefits of BIS registration.

He said the BIS had been approaching the bigger units to persuade their ancillaries to seek the BIS certification.

"This will help them in learning practical solutions to the varied problems faced in the domestic and global markets," he added.

"The procedures have been simplified and now licence can be obtained in 30 days. The BIS has also started outsourcing the surveillance to monitor the companies already registered with them.

"This will help us utilise the services of our technical staff only for the scientific and technical evaluation of the products and the processes," he added.

The BIS will also hire the services of post-graduate students at engineering colleges for supervising registered companies.