India’s government, through the Departments for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Consumer Affairs, is implementing measures to verify that products labeled “Made in India” genuinely meet specified criteria. This step responds to concerns that many goods bearing the tag may not satisfy value-addition norms or domestic manufacturing standards.
The verification will include audits of manufacturing facilities, checking sourcing of components, domestic value addition, and random product sampling by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Key Rules & Criteria
Here are the criteria and mechanisms being considered to verify authenticity:
- Minimum Value Addition / Local Content: Many “Made in India” products will be required to have at least 50% local content / value addition, though some industries are being considered for exceptions.
- Manufacturing & Sourcing Audits: Verification will involve examining where products are produced, the origin of raw materials and components, and how much of the final product’s cost is generated in India.
- Spot Checks and Random Sampling: BIS will randomly collect product samples from the market to test whether labeling (country of origin, local content) is correct.
- Made in India Label Scheme: Under this voluntary scheme (launched Aug 2025), products that qualify can display a logo and a QR code carrying details about manufacture location, validity of label, etc.
Why This Move Matters
- Consumer Trust & Transparency: With clearer verification, consumers in India will have confidence that “Made in India” means what it claims — genuine local content, not mere assembly of imported parts.
- Promoting Local Manufacturing & Swadeshi: The measure aligns with national policies like Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and reducing dependency on imports. Ensures that government incentives go to genuine local production.
- Quality & Standards: Tighter verification and BIS oversight help enforce higher product quality, ensuring that “Made in India” isn’t just a label but a quality promise.
- Regulatory Compliance & Enforcement: Rules will force compliance in labeling, origin declaration, packaging, and could lead to penalties for mislabeling or misleading claims.
Challenges & Issues to Watch
- Defining “Value Addition”: Industries differ widely — for electronics or mobile phones, imported components are often unavoidable. Determining fair thresholds for different sectors will be complex.
- Compliance Costs: Smaller manufacturers and MSMEs might find audits, labeling updates, QR code infrastructure, and BIS testing burdensome. Government will need to balance regulation with ease of doing business.
- Enforcement & Policing: Random checks are good in theory, but ensuring widespread enforcement across informal sectors, remote areas, overseas exports might be tough.
- Possible Misuse or “Assembled in India” loopholes: Some products may assemble imported parts locally and still claim “Made in India.” How these are handled under the new rules will matter for authenticity.
- Consumer Awareness: For these measures to have full effect, consumers need to know how to check labels, QR codes, BIS marks. Public outreach is essential.
What To Expect & Next Steps
- DPIIT and BIS to issue detailed guidelines on what qualifies for “Made in India” status in different product categories. mint
- Implementation of the Made in India Label Scheme to scale up, with audits, QR code checks, label validity tools becoming mainstream
- Increased sampling and enforcement by BIS and Consumer Affairs for cases of mislabelling.
- Possibly stricter procurement norms in public procurement to prefer suppliers meeting these verified criteria.
Conclusion
Verifying the authenticity of “Made in India” products is a key policy shift aimed at ensuring that the label carries real value, not just branding. By setting clear criteria, enforcing audits, and involving BIS for quality checks, the government is pushing for greater transparency in manufacturing and boosting consumer confidence. How this balance is struck — ensuring authenticity while not overburdening small manufacturers — will determine whether the initiative succeeds.
