BIS Compliance News · 31 March 2026
Ministry of Steel exempts three stainless steel flat product standards from mandatory input adherence
The Ministry of Steel issued an order dated 31 March 2026 (S-20011/15/2024-TECH-Part(1)) granting exemption from mandatory input adherence for stainless steel flat products under three Indian Standards: IS 6911, IS 5522 and IS 15997. It follows an order of the same file number dated 20 November 2025 and representations from stainless steel importers.
Input adherence is the QCO requirement that the steel input used to make a covered product itself comes from BIS-licensed sources. Under this order, that requirement is relaxed for these three standards for imports whose Bill of Lading shows a shipped-on-board date on or before 30 September 2026.
Weeks later, on 27 April 2026, the Ministry went further and granted a full QCO compliance exemption for stainless flat products under IS 6911, IS 5522, IS 15997 and IS 14650 (intermediate products) for shipments up to 26 October 2026.
Who is affected
Importers of stainless steel plate, sheet and strip, including utensil-grade and low-nickel kitchen-appliance grades.
What to do
- Confirm your consignment falls under IS 6911, IS 5522 or IS 15997.
- Check the shipped-on-board date on the Bill of Lading against the 30 September 2026 cut-off.
- Plan BIS-licensed supply chains for shipments after the exemption windows close.
Source: Ministry of Steel — Exemption of input adherence of stainless steel flat products (31.03.2026) · Ministry of Steel — Quality Control Orders page
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BIS Compliance News summarises official notifications in plain language. It is general information, not legal or regulatory advice — always confirm the current text of the order or notice, linked above, before acting.