India's silver market hit by purity crisis as refiners push BIS for mandatory hallmarking
With annual silver demand near 7,000 tonnes and investment buying surging, refiners warn that bars, coins and jewellery are routinely adulterated with prohibited metals. Assaying infrastructure trails gold sharply—1,595 hallmarking centres for gold versus 286 equipped for silver. MCX, BSE and NSE are moving to list certified 999-purity silver bars.
What happened
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) · Indian silver market is flooded with impure bars, coins and jewellery containing prohibited metals. Refiners urge BIS to
Key facts
- 7,000 tonnes
- 286 centres
- 1,595 centres
- 800-850 tonnes
- 999 purity
- 50%
Why this matters
The 1,309-centre gap between gold and silver assaying infrastructure is a clear roll-up opportunity—target regional hallmarking labs and silver refiners ahead of BIS mandate to control certification chokepoints.