BIS Certification for Bearings (ISI Mark)

A bearing is one of the most functionally critical components in any rotating machine - from the wheels of your car and the axles of a railway wagon, to the spindle of a CNC machine, the rotor of a wind turbine, the motor of a ceiling fan, and the impeller of a water pump. If something rotates in a machine, a bearing is what makes it rotate smoothly, efficiently, and safely.

For decades, India's bearing market has absorbed large volumes of low-quality, sub-standard, and counterfeit bearings - many of them imported - that fail prematurely, cause machinery breakdowns, and in industrial and automotive contexts, create serious safety risks. A failed bearing in a vehicle wheel hub can cause an accident. A failed bearing in an industrial pump can trigger a production shutdown. In a power plant, it can cause catastrophic failure.

This is the problem the Bearings (Quality Control) Order, 2025 is designed to solve. Issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (DPIIT) under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, it makes the BIS ISI Mark mandatory for 12 categories of bearings - ensuring that every bearing sold in India, whether made here or imported, has been verified against a specific Indian Standard for dimensions, materials, load ratings, hardness, and durability before it reaches the market.

• Safety first - certified bearings meet verified dimensional tolerances, hardness, and load/endurance limits. Buyers know what they are getting.
• Counterfeits eliminated - without a valid BIS ISI Mark, bearings cannot be legally imported or sold, shutting out the sub-standard supply chain.
• Market access - OEMs, Tier-1 auto suppliers, defence procurement, and government infrastructure projects already demand or will soon require ISI-marked bearings from their supply chain.
• Customs enforcement - imported bearings without a valid ISI Mark licence will be held and rejected at Indian ports of entry.
• "Make in India" benefit - domestic bearing manufacturers who invest in quality get a level playing field against cheap, uncertified imports.
• Level playing field for global competition - genuine international manufacturers who already produce to high quality standards gain the certification that validates their quality to Indian buyers.

The Bearings (Quality Control) Order, 2025 is published in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii)) under File No. P-29026/1/2025-LEI, signed by Sanjiv, Joint Secretary to the Government of India. Here are its key operative provisions in plain language:

Unlike many QCOs that give vague phase descriptions, the Bearings QCO 2025 specifies exact timelines in the gazette table itself. All three deadlines are measured from the date of publication in the Official Gazette:

How to determine your enterprise category - your category (Micro, Small, or Medium/General) is defined under the MSME Development Act, 2006 (27 of 2006) and is based on your annual turnover and investment in plant & machinery. If you are registered under Udyam Registration as a Micro or Small enterprise, you get the extended deadline - and also significant discounts on BIS marking fees.

Being an MSME under the Bearings QCO 2025 gives you two significant advantages: a longer compliance window (9 months for Small, 12 months for Micro) AND substantial discounts on BIS ISI Mark marking fees - the per-unit fee paid to BIS based on your annual production or import volume.

Each of the 12 bearing types in the QCO has its own Indian Standard, its own mechanical purpose, and its own testing requirements. Understanding which category applies to your product is the first step in getting the right BIS licence. Click each bearing to read the full explanation:

The following table is reproduced from the official gazette of the Bearings (Quality Control) Order, 2025 (File No. P-29026/1/2025-LEI). All 12 bearing products, their IS standards, and implementation timelines are as specified in the gazette:

Source: Bearings (Quality Control) Order, 2025 - File No. P-29026/1/2025-LEI, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (DPIIT), Government of India.
All timelines are from the date of publication in the Official Gazette. Latest version of each IS including amendments applies.

Bearings are in everything that rotates. The Bearings QCO 2025 is therefore one of the broadest-impact QCOs issued by the Government of India. Here are the key industries that will require BIS-certified bearings in their supply chain:

Under the Bearings QCO 2025, the obligation to obtain BIS certification and use the ISI Mark rests with the manufacturer, i.e., the entity that physically manufactures the bearing. This includes Indian manufacturers as well as foreign manufacturers whose products are supplied to the Indian market. Importers must ensure that the bearings they import comply with the applicable BIS certification requirements. Here is exactly how it breaks down for different stakeholders:

• Indian bearing manufacturers - apply directly for the ISI Mark licence for each applicable IS standard at their manufacturing plant. One factory location = one set of licences.
• Foreign bearing manufacturers - must obtain BIS ISI Mark certification under the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS) and appoint an Authorized Indian Representative (AIR) in India. The BIS factory inspection is conducted at the overseas manufacturing plant. India's largest bearing import sources - China, Japan, Germany, USA, South Korea, Italy, Sweden, and Taiwan - all now require this.
• Indian importers and distributors - cannot apply themselves. The licence must be held by the overseas manufacturer. Importers must therefore ensure their overseas supplier obtains BIS certification - or source from already-certified factories. Without this, customs will reject incoming bearing shipments at Indian ports.
• OEM buyers - companies using bearings in their own manufactured products (motors, pumps, vehicles) should begin requiring BIS-certified bearings from their suppliers before their own finished product enters the market.

The Bearings QCO 2025 specifies two clear exemptions. Both are narrow and well-defined - do not assume you are exempt without reading the exact conditions:

Exemption 1 - R&D Import (Up to 200 Units/Year)

The QCO allows bearing manufacturers to import up to 200 units per year for research and development - but only under strict conditions directly from the gazette text:

• The importer must be a manufacturer of bearings - this exemption does not apply to traders, dealers, or distributors
• The imported bearings cannot be sold commercially under any circumstances
• They can only be disposed of as scrap after use
• The manufacturer must maintain a year-wise record of all such imported goods and furnish details to the Central Government on request
• The 200-unit limit is per year - not cumulative

Exemption 2 - Domestic Manufacturing for Export

Bearings manufactured in India and intended exclusively for export are exempt from the QCO ISI Mark requirement. However, "exclusively for export" means exactly that - if even a portion of your production is sold in the domestic Indian market, those units require the ISI Mark. You cannot sell export-designated bearings to domestic buyers without BIS certification.

Clause 4 of the Bearings QCO 2025 states: "Any person who contravenes the provisions of this Order shall be punishable under the provisions of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016."

Bearings are certified under Scheme-I of Schedule-II of the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018 - a scheme that combines factory audit with sample testing:

Total timeline: 8-14 weeks (Indian manufacturers) · 12-18 weeks (foreign manufacturers, FMCS) due to overseas audit scheduling. BIS ISI Mark licences are now granted for up to 5 years under the BIS Conformity Assessment Amendment Regulations, 2026.

• BIS application form (Manakonline)
• Factory registration / incorporation proof
• Udyam Registration (MSME fee discount)
• Manufacturing process flow chart
• List of manufacturing & CNC machinery
• In-house testing equipment list
• Raw material & steel grade details
• Product range & size designations
• Trademark / brand registration
• Factory layout plan
• BIS-recognized lab test report
• AIR appointment letter (foreign mfr. only)

Standphill India is a global BIS consultancy - and the Bearings QCO 2025 is one of the most international in scope, covering bearing types exported to India from China, Japan, Germany, the USA, South Korea, Italy, Sweden, and beyond. Here is what you get when you work with us:

• All 12 bearing standards covered - from tapered roller and deep groove ball bearings to needle bearings, thrust washers, and sintered bushings. We know every IS standard.
• Exact deadline calculation - we determine your specific compliance deadline (6/9/12 months) based on your enterprise classification and gazette date, so you know exactly how much runway you have.
• Multi-licence project management - manufacturing multiple bearing types? We run all applications as one coordinated project, with synchronized factory audit scheduling and shared document packages where possible.
• Factory audit preparation - before any BIS inspector visits, we prepare your plant: what machinery must be demonstrated, what in-house testing equipment must be available and calibrated, what quality records must be ready.
• Full FMCS & AIR service for overseas factories - complete Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme support for bearing producers in China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Italy, Sweden, the USA, Taiwan, Thailand, and beyond.
• MSME discount optimization - we verify your Udyam classification and apply the maximum allowed marking fee concession from Day 1 of your application.
• Post-certification compliance - 5-year licence tracking, annual fee reminders, production statement submissions, and surveillance audit coordination. You focus on manufacturing; we handle the compliance calendar.
• Transparent pricing, no surprises - written cost estimate per bearing type and IS standard before any work begins.