Aluminium Alloy Products QCO 2026: What Every Manufacturer and Importer Must Know

• The order was issued by DPIIT (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) on 11 March 2026 as S.O. 1319(E), and came into force on publication in the Gazette on 13 March 2026.
• It replaces the 2025 order. The list of 17 Indian Standards is the same. Only the dates changed.
• Seven products became mandatory with immediate effect: irrigation tubes, EC grade rod, pharma foil, aluminium composite panel, corrugated sheet, and aerospace forgings (alloy 24345).
• Ten general engineering and electrical products get more time: 1 December 2026 for large and medium units, 1 March 2027 for small, 1 June 2027 for micro.
• Every covered product must carry the ISI Standard Mark under a BIS licence (Scheme I).
• Goods made in India for export are exempt. Up to 200 kg per year imported for R&D is also exempt, with conditions.
• Non-compliance is punishable under the BIS Act, 2016.
  
  

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Introduction

A rolling mill owner in Rajasthan called us in April. His problem was simple. A buyer in Pune had sent back his quotation for aluminium sheets with one line: “ISI mark mandatory from December, please confirm.” He had been selling the same sheets for twelve years. Nobody had ever asked for a BIS licence. Now one line in an email had put his biggest order on hold.

This is the Aluminium Alloy Products QCO 2026 in real life. It is not a new idea. The government first tried this in 2023, then again in 2024 and 2025. Each time the dates moved. This time the order is already in force, and the big deadline is close.

If you make, import, or trade aluminium sheets, bars, rods, tubes, wire, foil or composite panels, this guide is for you. We have kept it in plain language. No legal jargon. Just what the order says, what it means for your factory or your import shipment, and what to do now.

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What is the Aluminium Alloy Products QCO 2026?

In one line: it is a government order that says certain aluminium and aluminium alloy products cannot be made, sold, or imported in India unless they match the Indian Standard and carry the ISI mark.

QCO stands for Quality Control Order. The government issues these under Section 16 of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016. Once a product is under a QCO, BIS becomes the certifying and enforcing body. You cannot self-declare. You need a licence from BIS, your factory gets inspected, and your product gets tested.

The 2026 order supersedes the Aluminium and Aluminium Alloy Products (Quality Control) Order, 2025. Anything done under the 2025 order before 13 March 2026 stays valid. So if you already hold a licence, you do not start again.

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Why did the government bring this order again?

Here is the short history. Think of it as a train that kept getting delayed.

• September 2023: First order issued. Was to start six months later, in March 2024.
• October 2024: Replaced by the 2024 order. New dates: April 2025 onwards.
• May 2025: Replaced by the 2025 order. Implementation from 1 October 2025 for large units.
• February 2026: DPIIT gave relief for imports where the purchase order was placed before the implementation date.
• March 2026: The 2026 order. Dates pushed again for the general engineering group.

Why so many delays? Industry asked for time. Testing labs were few. Foreign suppliers found the BIS process slow. MSMEs said the cost was heavy. The government listened, but it did not drop the order. That is the signal to read. The Aluminium Alloy Products QCO 2026 is here to stay, and the 1 December 2026 date is the one to plan around

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Which aluminium products are covered? (Full list of 17 standards)

The order has one table with 17 entries. We have split it the way the order itself splits the dates.

Group A: Mandatory with immediate effect (from 13 March 2026)

IS Number	Product
IS 7092 (Part 1):1992	Aluminium alloy welded tubes for irrigation
IS 7092 (Part 2):1987	Aluminium alloy extruded tubes for irrigation
IS 5484:1997	EC grade aluminium rod by continuous casting and rolling
IS 16011:2012	Aluminium and aluminium alloy foil for pharmaceutical packaging
IS 17682:2021	Aluminium composite panel (ACP)
IS 1254:2007	Corrugated aluminium sheet
IS 7902:2001	Aluminium alloy forging stock and forgings (Alloy 24345) for aerospace

If you deal in any of these seven, the law already applies to you today. A consignment of ACP sheets landing at Nhava Sheva without the ISI mark can be held by customs right now.

Group B: Deferred dates (1 December 2026 / 1 March 2027 / 1 June 2027)

IS Number	Product
IS 733:1983	Wrought aluminium bars, rods and sections (general engineering)
IS 734:1975	Wrought aluminium forging stock and forgings (general engineering)
IS 736:1986	Wrought aluminium plate (general engineering)
IS 737:2008	Wrought aluminium sheet and strip (general engineering)
IS 739:1992	Wrought aluminium wire (general engineering)
IS 740:1977	Wrought aluminium rivet stock (general engineering)
IS 1285:2002	Extruded round tube and hollow sections (general engineering)
IS 2067:1975	Wrought aluminium wire for electrical purposes
IS 21:1992	Wrought aluminium and alloys for manufacture of utensils
IS 5082:1998	Bars, rods, tubes, sections, plates and sheets for electrical applications

This is the group that affects most of the trade. Extruders, sheet rollers, wire drawers, utensil raw material suppliers, and the thousands of importers who bring in 6061 and 6063 sections. If your product falls here and you are not a micro or small enterprise, you have until 1 December 2026. That is less than a month from today.

One more point. The order says the latest version of each standard, with its amendments, applies. So if BIS revises IS 737 next year, you follow the new version.

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Who gets extra time? Understanding the MSME dates

The order gives three different dates for Group B products. Which one applies to you depends on your Udyam registration category under the MSME Development Act, 2006.

• Large and medium enterprises: 1 December 2026
• Small enterprises: 1 March 2027
• Micro enterprises: 1 June 2027

A common mistake we see: a company assumes it is “small” because it feels small. The law goes by your Udyam certificate, which depends on investment in plant and machinery and turnover. Check the certificate before you plan your timeline. If you are not registered under Udyam at all, you will be treated as a large enterprise and the December date applies.

Also note: this relief is for Indian manufacturers. A foreign manufacturer exporting to India is not an MSME under Indian law. For imported goods, the practical test is the date your product category becomes mandatory, not the size of 

the overseas factory.

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What does the Aluminium Alloy Products QCO 2026 exempt?

Two exemptions only. Read them carefully, because people stretch them.

1. Goods made in India for export. If your factory makes aluminium sheet purely for export, you do not need the ISI mark on that sheet. But the moment you sell even one lot in the domestic market, you are covered.

2. R&D imports up to 200 kg per year. A manufacturer of aluminium products can import up to 200 kg per year for research and development without BIS certification. Two conditions apply. The goods cannot be sold commercially and must be scrapped after use. And the manufacturer must keep a year-wise record on company letterhead, signed by an authorised signatory, and submit it to the Central Government.

There is no exemption for “small quantities”, for “samples”, for “captive use”, or for “we have ISO 9001”. We get asked these every week. The answer is no.

What happens if you do not comply?

Clause 4 of the order says any person who contravenes it is punishable under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016. In practice, non-compliance hits you in three places:

• At customs. Import consignments of covered products without the Standard Mark can be stopped. Demurrage builds daily while you argue.
• In the market. BIS has enforcement powers. It can search, seize, and prosecute. Your buyer’s QA team can also simply reject the lot.
• In your order book. Like the Rajasthan mill owner, you lose customers before any officer ever visits. Large buyers now put “BIS licence number” in their vendor forms.

The legal risk is real. The commercial risk arrives first.

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How to get BIS certification for aluminium products: step by step

The route is Scheme I of Schedule II of the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018. Indian factories apply for an ISI licence. Foreign factories apply under FMCS, the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme. The core steps are the same.

Step 1. Map your products to the right IS. This sounds easy but is where most delays begin. A 6063 extruded section for windows goes under IS 733. A round tube from the same alloy goes under IS 1285. Electrical bus bar goes under IS 5082, not IS 733. Each IS needs a separate licence. Get this map right first.

Step 2. Set up in-house testing. Each standard has a Scheme of Testing and Inspection (STI). BIS expects you to have the basic test equipment in your own lab: chemical composition (spectrometer or access to one), tensile testing, hardness, dimensions. For foil and ACP, more. The factory inspector will check this on the day.

Step 3. Apply on the BIS Manak Online portal. Documents include factory layout, process flow, machinery list, test equipment list with calibration certificates, quality control staff details, and the MSME certificate if you want the later date.

Step 4. Factory inspection and sample drawing. A BIS officer visits, checks your process against the STI, and draws samples. For FMCS, the officer travels abroad, and you pay for it.

Step 5. Third-party testing. Samples go to a BIS-recognised lab. Aluminium tests usually take a few weeks, depending on lab load.

Step 6. Licence grant and marking. Once the test report is clear, BIS grants the licence with a CM/L number. From then on, every piece, bundle or coil must carry the ISI mark with your CM/L number.

Realistic timeline for an Indian unit that is well prepared: three to four months. For FMCS, longer, often six months or more. If you are in Group B and have not applied yet, you are already late for December. Apply this month and talk to your buyers about transition stock.

For a general walkthrough of the ISI route, see our guide on how to apply for the ISI mark certificate. Foreign suppliers should read how to get BIS FMCS certification.

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Importers: what you should do right now

Importers carry the most risk because the licence sits with the overseas factory, not with you. Five practical actions:

1. Ask every supplier, in writing, whether they hold or have applied for a BIS licence for the exact IS number of your product. Get the CM/L number or the application number.
2. Check the licence on the BIS website. Fake certificates circulate.
3. For Group B products, do not place orders with delivery after 1 December 2026 from a supplier who has not applied.
4. For stock already on water or in bonded warehouses, keep purchase orders, invoices and bill of lading dates ready. The February 2026 DPIIT relief for pre-implementation orders applied to the 2025 order; whether and how it reads with the 2026 order is a question to take to a consultant with your documents, not something to assume.
5. If your supplier refuses, find a licensed one. The number of Indian extruders with IS 733 and IS 1285 licences is rising every month.

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Manufacturers: a reality check on cost and effort

Clients ask us: “Is it worth it?” Our honest answer is that the question is the wrong one. For a covered product, after the date, there is no market without the mark. The real question is how to do it without wasting money.

Three things that save money:

• Apply for the standards you actually sell, not every standard in the list. Each licence has its own fee and its own inspection.
• Share lab access. Many clusters (Jagadhri, Rajkot, Delhi NCR) have common testing facilities. BIS accepts in-house testing arrangements that meet the STI; ask before you buy a spectrometer.
• Fix your records first. Most inspection failures we see are not product failures. They are missing calibration certificates and incomplete batch registers.

For the difference between the ISI route and the broader BIS schemes, our article on BIS vs ISI certification clears up the common confusion.

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Why choose Diligence Certification for your aluminium QCO work

You can apply for a BIS licence yourself. The portal is open to all. What stops most applications is not the form. It is the wrong IS number, a factory that is not ready for the inspector, and queries that sit unanswered for weeks.

That is the gap we fill.

Right standard, first time. Round tube goes under IS 1285, not IS 733. Bus bar goes under IS 5082. We check your product against the list before a single fee is paid.

Factory ready before the officer arrives. We walk your floor, check your lab, your calibration papers and your batch records, and give you a plain fix-list.

Indian and foreign units both. ISI route for Indian factories, FMCS for overseas suppliers. Importers can hand the supplier side to us.

No false promises. We do not promise “licence in 30 days”. BIS labs and officers set that pace. We promise that nothing on your side will cause the delay.

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conclusion

The mill owner from Rajasthan applied in the last week of April. His IS 737 licence came through in the first week of September. He got his Pune order back, and two new ones from buyers who had been quietly dropping unlicensed suppliers.

That is the pattern we expect to repeat all through November. The Aluminium Alloy Products QCO 2026 is not going to be pushed again in any way you should bet your business on. Seven products are already live. Ten more go live on 1 December 2026. The factories that applied early are winning orders. The ones waiting for “one more extension” are losing them.

If you want someone to map your products to the right IS numbers, prepare your factory for the BIS visit, and manage the application end to end, our BIS certification team does exactly this every day. Send us your product list and your Udyam certificate, and we will tell you plainly where you stand and what the next ninety days should look like.

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Frequently Asked Questions