BIS Consultant in India: What They Do, What It Costs, and When You Need One

• A BIS consultant in India helps you find the correct Indian Standard, prepare your documents, get your product tested at a BIS-recognised lab, and file the application properly. The licence itself comes only from BIS. Nobody can guarantee it.
• BIS certification is compulsory only when your product is named in a Quality Control Order (QCO). Check the official BIS list first, then spend money.
• ISI Mark, CRS and FMCS are different schemes for different situations. One cannot be used in place of another.
• There is no fixed price. The total is made up of government fees, marking fee, lab testing, inspection costs and the consultant’s own fee. Always ask for a line-by-line quote.
• Two things changed in 2026: CRS registrations now run for five years (fees still paid yearly), and the Scheme X machinery order (OTR 2024) was withdrawn in January 2026.

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Introduction

A manufacturer from Ludhiana called us last month. His distributor had just told him that his product now needs an ISI mark. No mark, no more orders. He had three months.

So he searched for a BIS consultant in India. What he found was a wall of firms promising fast approval, a couple of government job adverts, and not one page that told him plainly what has to happen and in what order.

That is why this guide exists. Before you call anyone, you should know how the process works, what it really costs, and whether you need a consultant at all. We deal with these files every day at Diligence Certifications, and this is what we tell every new client on the first call.

One thing to clear up right away. A private BIS consultant does not issue licences and cannot promise you one. Only BIS does that.

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What does a BIS consultant in India actually do?

Put simply, a BIS consultant works out which Indian Standard your product falls under, gets your paperwork in order, arranges testing at a BIS-recognised lab, files the application the way BIS wants it, answers BIS’s queries, and keeps you compliant after the licence is granted. The consultant runs the process. BIS takes the decision.

Day to day, the job has four parts.

Applicability. Is your product covered by a QCO at all? If yes, under which standard? This is where most self-filed applications fall apart. A product can look like it belongs under one standard and legally sit under another.

Documentation. Factory layout, process flow, quality control records, calibration certificates for your test equipment, and the application forms, all in the format BIS expects.

Testing and inspection. Sending samples to the right lab, checking the test report against the standard before it goes to BIS, and getting the factory ready for the inspection visit where one is needed.

After the licence. Marking fee, yearly renewals, surveillance visits, adding new models.

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Which products need BIS certification in India?

Not all of them. BIS certification is voluntary by default. It becomes compulsory when the government issues a Quality Control Order for a product, usually on grounds like public safety, health, environment, unfair trade practices or national security.

The simple test: if a ministry has issued a QCO naming your product and an IS number, you need certification from the date mentioned in that order. If there is no QCO for your product, it is optional. Even then, big buyers and government tenders often ask for it.

The official list is on the BIS products under compulsory certification page. Match it against your own product description and HS code, not against what your competitor is doing. The list covers steel, cement, electrical appliances, electronics and IT goods, toys, footwear, furniture, chemicals, helmets and much more. It changes several times a year, and MSMEs often get a different deadline from large units.

Here is a made-up example to show how it goes wrong. A Surat firm imports motorised office chairs. It is a chair, so furniture, right? But the motor and controller make it electrical equipment, and BIS may expect it under an electrical standard instead of the furniture QCO. Which standard applies decides the tests, the lab and the cost. Get that wrong on day one and the whole testing budget is wasted.

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The four BIS schemes you’ll hear about

These are not interchangeable. The product and the QCO decide the scheme. You don’t get to choose.

Scheme I - ISI Mark

Under Scheme I, BIS checks your factory’s manufacturing and testing capability, tests your product against the Indian Standard, and then grants a licence to use the ISI mark. After that, BIS keeps watching: surveillance visits, samples picked from the factory and from the open market.

This is the scheme for cement, steel, cables, switches, pressure cookers, water bottles and most physical goods. A factory inspection is part of it. Our ISI Mark Certification page goes into the details.

Scheme II - Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS)

CRS is for electronics and IT products: laptops, phones, adapters, LED lighting, batteries and so on. There is no factory inspection. You get the product tested at a BIS-recognised lab, self-declare conformity, and BIS registers it on the strength of that report.

One update many websites have missed: under the 2026 amendment to the BIS Conformity Assessment Regulations, a CRS registration is now valid for five years instead of two. The annual fee still has to be paid every year to keep it alive. If a consultant’s page still says two years, it hasn’t been updated.

The CRS portal is crsbis.in. For a side-by-side of ISI and CRS, read BIS vs CRS Certification.

FMCS - for factories outside India

FMCS is basically Scheme I for a factory located abroad. The foreign manufacturer has to appoint an Authorised Indian Representative (AIR) who is legally answerable in India, and a BIS officer flies out to inspect the plant. Fees are charged in US dollars and the manufacturer pays for the inspection visit. See the BIS FMCS page and our FMCS Mark Certification guide.

Scheme X - what changed in 2026

Scheme X is a route under the 2018 Regulations. It was meant to carry the Machinery and Electrical Equipment Safety (Omnibus Technical Regulation) Order, 2024, which would have brought pumps, compressors, cranes, transformers and a long list of industrial machinery under mandatory BIS certification.

That order is gone. On 14 January 2026 the Ministry of Heavy Industries withdrew the OTR with immediate effect. The withdrawal notice is on the Ministry’s website.

So if someone tells you in late 2026 that your lathe or pump needs Scheme X certification under the OTR, they are working from old information. Scheme X still applies to a few specific products BIS lists under it. Check before you spend.

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The BIS certification process in India, step by step

The exact route depends on the scheme. For a Scheme I (ISI) file, it looks like this:

1. Applicability check. Match the product to a QCO and an IS number. Confirm which edition of the standard is current.
2. Gap assessment. Compare your test equipment, quality control and records with what the standard demands. BIS expects you to be able to do routine tests in-house.
3. Documentation. Application, factory layout, process flow chart, machinery list, test equipment list with calibration status, quality manual, signatory authorisation.
4. Online application. File on the BIS portal and pay the application fee.
5. Sample testing. Samples go to a BIS lab or a BIS-recognised lab. Use the BIS lab search tool to find one recognised for your IS number.
6. Factory inspection. A BIS officer visits, checks the setup, and draws samples.
7. Queries. BIS points out gaps; you reply within the given time.
8. Grant of licence. If BIS is satisfied. Nobody outside BIS can promise this.
9. Operation. Pay marking fee, keep records, face surveillance, renew on time.

For CRS, steps 2 and 6 are replaced by lab testing and self-declaration. For FMCS, step 6 is an overseas visit, and the AIR has to be appointed before you file.

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Documents required for BIS certification

It depends on the scheme. For an Indian manufacturer under Scheme I, start with this list:

• Certificate of incorporation or partnership deed, GST, PAN
• Factory address proof and layout plan
• Manufacturing process flow chart
• List of manufacturing machinery
• List of test equipment with valid calibration certificates
• Quality control plan and in-house test records
• Trademark registration or authorisation, if the brand is not yours
• ID proof and authorisation letter for the signatory
• Any product-specific documents the IS or the BIS product manual asks for

Foreign manufacturers also need the AIR nomination form, an undertaking, and the AIR’s own documents. Steel importers have a separate No Objection Certificate route under the Steel QCO; see NOC for Steel Importers.

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BIS certification cost in India: the components, not a number

If someone gives you one figure before looking at your product, they are guessing. The cost is built from these pieces:

1. Government application fee, paid when you file.
2. Annual licence fee, paid every year the licence is running.
3. Marking fee. Under Scheme I this depends on the product and how much you produce, with a minimum yearly amount per product. The schedule is on the BIS product certification fee page, and you can look up your IS number on the Manak Online fee search. The same page lists concessions for micro and small units under Scheme I. Check if you qualify.
4. Testing charges, paid to the lab. This is usually the biggest variable. Twenty test parameters cost far more than five, and if a sample fails you pay again.
5. Inspection-related expenses, plus the officer’s travel in the case of FMCS.
6. The consultant’s fee. Separate from all of the above. Get it in writing, on its own line.

You’ll see industry articles quoting totals in the range of ₹60,000 to ₹1,80,000 or more for 2026. Use that only to get a rough sense. Any BIS consultant in India worth hiring will give you a line-by-line estimate once the standard is confirmed, not before.

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Common mistakes that delay BIS approval

• Picking the wrong Indian Standard because the product name matched, without reading the scope clause.
• Testing at a lab not recognised for that IS, so BIS rejects the report.
• Not having the in-house test equipment the standard requires.
• Treating ISI, CRS and FMCS as the same thing and preparing the wrong set of documents.
• Missing the MSME deadline in the QCO, which can be different from the general one.
• Forgetting what comes after the licence: marking fee, annual returns, surveillance, renewal. Under the 2026 amendment, you must submit production details along with the yearly fee on time, or the licence can be suspended or cancelled.

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How Diligence Certifications works on BIS files

Diligence Certifications is a compliance consultancy. We handle BIS schemes (ISI Mark, CRS, FMCS, Scheme X where it still applies, Hallmarking, ECO Mark) as well as CDSCO, PESO, WPC, LMPC, CPCB/EPR and international approvals.

For BIS work, we follow the same order described above: applicability first, then a written gap report, then documents, lab coordination, filing, query handling and post-grant support.

We do not own a BIS-recognised lab and we do not issue licences. We build the file and manage the process. BIS decides. Our quote shows our professional fee on a separate line from government and testing costs, so you always know where the money is going.

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