Exports to India: Only with BIS certificate and local representative

For the first time, India, the world’s fastest-growing economy, is cre­ating a binding legal frame­work for Machinery Safety with its Omnibus Tech­nical Reg­u­la­tion (OTR). The reg­u­la­tions pub­lished by the Min­istry of Heavy Indus­tries define clear require­ments for machinery and elec­trical equip­ment, which in future must be met when exporting to India and oper­ating machinery there. Fol­lowing an exten­sion to the dead­line, the OTR is now expected to come into force from 1 Sep­tember 2026.

The Elec­trical Equip­ment (Quality Con­trol) Order, 2020 has recently come into force. This expands the list of elec­trical prod­ucts requiring cer­ti­fi­ca­tion and tightens their quality and safety require­ments. For cer­tain product groups – in par­tic­ular low-voltage switchgear and con­trol units – 10 November 2025 is already the binding key date for BIS cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. From this date onwards, these prod­ucts may only be sold in India with valid cer­ti­fi­ca­tion.

Who or what is affected specifically?

The new Indian Machinery Safety reg­u­la­tions affect man­u­fac­turers and exporters. In future, only machines with valid BIS cer­ti­fi­ca­tion may be imported into India. Dis­trib­u­tors and importers are indi­rectly affected, as they may only sell cer­ti­fied prod­ucts, but cannot apply for cer­ti­fi­ca­tion them­selves.

The reg­u­la­tion applies to numerous types of machines – from pumps and pack­aging machines through to elec­trical con­trol com­po­nents. Safety-related assem­blies are also included. Excep­tions apply only to machines that are intended exclu­sively for export from India or are used tem­porarily, on con­struc­tion sites for example.

What do the new regulations cover?

Sim­ilar to Europe, manda­tory cer­ti­fi­ca­tions and a con­for­mity mark, the “BIS/CRS Stan­dard Mark”, with the BIS licence number are required – the Indian equiv­a­lent of the CE mark. In future, BIS cer­ti­fi­ca­tion will ensure the quality, safety and reli­a­bility of prod­ucts in accor­dance with Indian Stan­dards (IS). Without this proof of com­pli­ance, man­u­fac­turers face cus­toms delays or other sanc­tions.

Most require­ments are based on existing inter­na­tional and Indian spec­i­fi­ca­tions – stan­dards such as ISO 12100 and IS 16819 – which makes tech­nical mod­i­fi­ca­tions easier for many man­u­fac­turers.

Authorised representative in India

Anyone wishing to export to India must also appoint an autho­rised rep­re­sen­ta­tive based in India. For example, this legal or nat­ural person acts as the con­tact person for the Indian author­i­ties, han­dles the sub­mis­sion and admin­is­tra­tion of the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion doc­u­ments, and is ulti­mately respon­sible for com­pli­ance with the reg­u­la­tions.

Pilz India: Bridge between standard and market

The OTR is a sig­nif­i­cant step towards tech­nical har­mon­i­sa­tion in India. Com­pa­nies that export machinery or elec­trical equip­ment to India should famil­iarise them­selves with the new require­ments at an early stage. For decades, Pilz has been sup­porting machine builders and users with the Safety of their plant and machinery. With its many years of exper­tise, Pilz India can help com­pa­nies to meet the require­ments and there­fore export to India. In addi­tion, employees from Pilz India work on the rel­e­vant BIS com­mittee, helping to shape details and pro­viding advice.

Key facts at a glance: