Hallmarking of gold ruled out till labs come up

Dismissing tall claims to the contrary, government on Thursday said making gold "hallmarking" mandatory is ruled out for the next 8-10 years but initiatives have been taken to put the requisite massive infrastructure in place in a phased manner.

'Hallmarking' is the certification that a jewellery item contains gold or silver of the quantum claimed by a jeweller.

At present, with mandatory gold hallmarking as the ultimate objective, government has initiated the process of setting up a number of laboratories nationwide for testing the gold jewellery, consumer affairs secretary Navin Chawla said here, adding that even the private sector can be roped in for the ambitious consumer-friendly project.

He said it will take nearly a decade to make gold hallmarking mandatory but to even spread awareness about the current 'voluntary' scheme, states have been asked to step up the infrastructure and the matter has also been taken up with India's largest trading house, MMTC which has a hallmarking facility here.

Speaking on the sidelines of an official function, he said 10 such facilities, six and four of the National Test House and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) respectively will be opened up.

MMTC has been asked to increase its hallmarking centre to 15. Punjab has agreed 'in principle', to open a centre in Ludhiana. Kerala too is opening a centre.

"I have written to chief secretaries of all the states on the issue", he added.