Key Information: technical requirements
What technical requirements must my product meet to enter and compete in the Indian market?
Foreign entities doing business in India need to be aware of the mandatory technical regulations pertaining to their product or service, other relevant mandatory and
voluntary standards, as well as the measures required to demonstrate conformance.
How can I determine technical requirements?
In India, technical regulations are established by relevant Ministries with jurisdiction over a particular product or service.
To determine applicable regulations, a foreign company will need to check with the appropriate government Ministry.
Find a complete list of the Indian Ministries with links to their websites.
In addition to technical regulations, companies should be aware of the relevant Indian Standards (IS) for their
products or services. While most IS are voluntary, some may be mandatory, or required by Government of India.
About Indian Standards
Directory of all Indian Standards
Finally, there may be additional voluntary standards in place in the private sector which are not enforced by the government, but are nonetheless required by individual clients. These standards vary by industry sector, and foreign companies should check with the relevant industry representatives and/or clients to determine the private sector standards in place for their products.
How can I demonstrate compliance?
Once a company doing business in India has determined the pertinent regulations and standards, the next step is to know what is required to demonstrate compliance with those requirements. For government regulations, the conformity assessment requirements will be included in the regulation, and foreign businesses can check with the relevant Ministry for these requirements. For Indian Standards, foreign manufacturers can obtain a license to use the Standard Mark of conformity (popularly known as the ISI Mark), which indicates that a particular product complies with appropriate Indian Standards. Other conformity assessment requirements may be required by the private sector, and foreign companies should check with the appropriate industry representatives.
Learn more about the ISI Mark and the Indian conformity assessment system.
In addition, each member of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) maintains a national Technical Barriers to Trade
(TBT) enquiry point to which citizens and businesses can submit questions
related to technical requirements and market access. When in doubt,
companies should submit questions about compliance with technical regulations
to their countries’ enquiry point.
Finally, through the ANSI-CII-BIS partnership,
we can help companies with questions about technical regulations, voluntary
standards, and demonstrating compliance.
Contact us for more information
How can I get "early warning" about changes to these requirements?
