Stricter quality check? Making way for localisation? The Bureau of Indian Standards terminates Chinese companies for substandard lithium-ion cells, tightening import standards for home appliance components.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has recently revoked the registration of two Chinese companies, Guangdong Cvasun New Energy Technology Co. and Ganzhou Novel Battery Technology Co., for supplying substandard lithium-ion cells, after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) raised concerns about the products.
At around the same time, it has reportedly refused to recertify around 50 consumer electronics component suppliers from China and Vietnam, fearing the risk of local production.
The government introduced stricter quality standards to protect consumers and improve product quality. Tests on products from two companies revealed that one sold cells with lower capacity while falsely claiming compliance. Several weeks ago, MeitY raised the issue with BIS, which conducted investigations and issued cancellation orders last week.
Regarding BIS’ crackdown on suppliers of home appliance parts, a report from the Economic Times predicted that India is on the verge of facing a massive shortage of air conditioners and refrigerators in the coming summer.
The companies impacted by this decision include Avic Electromechanical (Shenyang), Sanyo Refrigeration Equipment, and Highly Group. While many industry stakeholders in the Indian appliance market view this move as unprecedented, the affected companies have yet to comment on the ban.
A BIS certification is required to import components such as motors, copper tubes, and metal sheets. While 55-60% of air conditioners (ACs) are manufactured locally in India, nearly 85% of their compressors are imported. Similarly, in the case of refrigerators, around 75% of components, including compressors, are sourced from abroad.
The BIS certifications for these components were granted for a limited period in 2018-19 and 2019-20, but they expired by the middle of this year.
According to reports, the government may soon relax its stance and issue new approvals, but only for imported components that are not produced locally.
