Construction Materials
India is the second-largest cement producer globally with installed capacity exceeding 600 million tonnes…
ISI MARK · 45 LINES · 23 STANDARDS
India is the second-largest cement producer globally with installed capacity exceeding 600 million tonnes per annum, and the construction sector contributes roughly 9 percent of gross domestic product. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has notified 12 eight-digit HSN codes from two Customs Tariff chapters: Chapter 68 covering cement-bonded articles of asbestos, mineral fibre, and cellulose (HSN 6811 series — corrugated and flat fibre-cement sheets, asbestos-cement pressure and sewerage pipes, building boards) and Chapter 70 covering safety glass (HSN 7007 series — toughened and laminated glass for vehicle windshields, side windows, and architectural glazing). The controlled pool draws 13 Indian Standards: IS 459 (corrugated asbestos-cement sheets), IS 1592 (asbestos-cement pressure pipes), IS 2096 (flat asbestos-cement sheets), IS 2098 (asbestos-cement building boards), IS 2553 (safety glass — Part 1 architectural, Part 2 road vehicles), IS 6908 (asbestos-cement pipes for sewerage), IS 8870 (cellulose fibre-reinforced cement pipes), IS 13000 (safety glass-glazing for road vehicles and rail rolling stock), IS 14862 (fibre-cement flat sheets), IS 14871 (fibre-cement corrugated sheets), and IS 2835, IS 9627, and IS 13008 in the residual cohort. All 12 HSN codes sit within the ISI Mark Scheme under Scheme-I of Schedule-II of the BIS Conformity Assessment Regulations, 2018, with no Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) overlap.
The governing instruments are the Asbestos-Cement Products (Quality Control) Order, bringing the HSN 6811 cohort within the ISI Mark Scheme against IS 459, IS 1592, IS 2096, IS 2098, IS 6908, IS 8870, IS 9627, IS 13008, IS 14862, and IS 14871, and the Safety Glass (Quality Control) Order, bringing the HSN 7007 cohort within the ISI Mark Scheme against IS 2553 and IS 13000, each issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Section 16 of the BIS Act, 2016. Layered above the BIS regime sits the Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) overlay administered by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, where AIS-008 type-approval for vehicle glazing runs concurrent with IS 2553 Part 2 — both clearances must be in place before vehicle homologation is granted. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 separately governs migration testing on glass containers for food and beverage contact, which sit outside Chapter 70 under HSN 7010 but routinely surface in dual-sourcing arrangements.
Five operational pain points recur. First, the chrysotile-versus-polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) fibre licence scope: IS 14862 and IS 14871 cover non-asbestos fibre-cement sheets, while IS 459, IS 2096, and IS 2098 cover the legacy chrysotile asbestos-cement cohort, and many state PWD and railway tenders still specify the asbestos-cement IS even where suppliers have converted to non-asbestos fibre. Second, glass-ply tolerance under IS 2553 safety glass testing, where laminated builds with sub-spec ply thickness routinely fail the optical distortion and impact tests during BIS sample draw. Third, optical distortion testing under IS 2553 mandates the slit-pattern test in the driver's primary viewing zone, and laminated windshields with sub-spec polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers fail this test even where individual plies pass impact. Fourth, the AIS overlay for automotive glazing creates a documentation trap at the port — importers must produce both the BIS CM/L number against IS 2553 Part 2 and the AIS-008 type-approval certificate. Fifth, FSSAI overlap on glass containers for food and beverage routes triggers migration-testing obligations under the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018 independently of any Chapter 70 BIS clearance.
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Tariff lines (8-digit HSN)
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Indian Standards in industry
68 · 70
HSN chapters mapped
Indian manufacturers
Indian manufacturers of corrugated and flat fibre-cement sheets, asbestos-cement pressure and sewerage pipes, building boards, toughened and laminated safety glass for automotive and architectural use within the 12 notified HSN codes must hold a CM/L licence under the ISI Mark Scheme against the applicable IS standard before any notified consignment is dispatched to the domestic market. Operating a fibre-cement sheet plant in the Hyderabad-Sangareddy cluster, an asbestos-cement pipe unit in the Kymore or Bhilai belts, or a safety glass float-and-laminate facility in Gujarat (Mundra-Mehsana belt) and Rajasthan (Bhiwadi belt) without the applicable BIS certification exposes the unit to seizure of stock, retrospective penalty on past sales, and prosecution under Section 17 of the BIS Act, 2016, with monetary penalty up to INR 2 lakh under Sections 29 through 33 for a first offence and criminal liability including imprisonment up to two years for repeat offences. Fibre-cement sheet manufacturers face a particular trap on the chrysotile-versus-PVA fibre licence scope, because a CM/L issued under IS 14871 for PVA-fibre corrugated sheets cannot be supplied against PWD or railway tenders specifying IS 459 asbestos-cement corrugated sheets, and a wrong-IS supply against a government contract attracts contractual termination and debarment in addition to BIS enforcement.
Foreign manufacturers
Foreign manufacturers of fibre-cement and asbestos-cement building products and safety glass exporting to India — predominantly Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian fibre-cement sheet mills, Chinese and Korean float and laminate glass producers, and European architectural glass manufacturers — must obtain a Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS) licence under Scheme-I of the BIS Conformity Assessment Regulations, 2018 before any ISI-marked consignment clears Indian customs, with the typical application-to-grant timeline running 6 to 9 months. The pathway comprises application filing on manakonline.in, appointment of an Authorised Indian Representative (AIR), BIS officer travel to the producing plant for inspection of the autoclave, mixer, sheet-forming line (for fibre-cement) or the float bath, lehr, tempering furnace, and laminate autoclave (for safety glass), sample drawing for testing at a BIS-recognised Indian laboratory against the applicable IS specification including the optical distortion and impact tests under IS 2553, and grant of the product-and-facility-specific CM/L licence. The AIR named on the FMCS application carries personal statutory liability under Rule 11 of the BIS Conformity Assessment Regulations, 2018 for sample submission, surveillance-fee remittance, and the foreign plant's ongoing compliance, with safety-glass AIRs additionally exposed to liability for AIS-008 type-approval coordination with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on automotive-glazing consignments.
Importers
Customs verification at Mundra, Kandla, Nhava Sheva (JNPT), Chennai, Krishnapatnam, and every container-handling Indian port is conducted in real time against the BIS portal (manakonline.in), overlaid with the AIS-008 type-approval verification for automotive safety glass consignments and FSSAI cross-checks where glass food-contact containers are dual-sourced. A lapsed, suspended, fibre-type-mismatched, or AIS-unmatched FMCS licence on a fibre-cement sheet, asbestos-cement pipe, or safety glass consignment results in immediate consignment detention at the wharf. Demurrage and ground rent on heavy and fragile cargoes — fibre-cement sheets palletised on flat-racks, asbestos-cement pipes in open-top containers, laminated and tempered glass in special-handling crates — accrue from day 1 of detention at rates that compound rapidly given the fragile-cargo storage surcharges at terminal operators. Importers should verify the supplier's CM/L number, the IS standard code (distinguishing IS 459 chrysotile from IS 14871 PVA-fibre, and IS 2553 Part 1 architectural from IS 2553 Part 2 vehicle), the certified ply thickness and PVB interlayer specification for laminated glass, and the producing plant address on manakonline.in before placing each purchase order, because mismatches identified after arrival in India typically resolve only through re-export, conditional release under bond, or confiscation under the Customs Act, 1962 read with Section 17 of the BIS Act, 2016.
Applicable Indian Standards
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Speak to an Expert → Is fibre-cement sheet under BIS QCO?
Yes. Corrugated and flat fibre-cement sheets within HSN 6811 81 00, HSN 6811 82 00, HSN 6811 89 10, and HSN 6811 89 90 fall under the Asbestos-Cement Products (Quality Control) Order issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Section 16 of the BIS Act, 2016, requiring BIS certification under the ISI Mark Scheme. The applicable IS depends on the fibre type and product form: IS 459 covers corrugated and semi-corrugated asbestos-cement sheets, IS 2096 covers flat asbestos-cement sheets, IS 14862 covers fibre-cement flat sheets (non-asbestos), and IS 14871 covers fibre-cement corrugated sheets (non-asbestos). A CM/L issued against the non-asbestos IS cannot be supplied against contracts specifying the chrysotile-asbestos IS, and manufacturers and importers must verify the exact IS scope and fibre cohort on manakonline.in before each purchase order.
Does architectural safety glass need IS 2553 certification?
Yes. Toughened and laminated safety glass within HSN 7007 19 00 (toughened safety glass other than for vehicles) and HSN 7007 29 00 (laminated safety glass other than for vehicles) used for architectural glazing — building facades, structural glazing, railings, partitions, and skylights — requires BIS certification under the ISI Mark Scheme against IS 2553 Part 1 (Safety glass — Specification: Part 1 Architectural and general use), issued under the Safety Glass (Quality Control) Order under Section 16 of the BIS Act, 2016. The IS 2553 Part 1 testing battery covers impact resistance, fragmentation pattern (for toughened glass), residual penetration resistance (for laminated glass), and optical quality including freedom from gross optical distortion.
What is the difference between IS 2553 Part 1 and Part 2?
IS 2553 Part 1 covers safety glass for architectural and general use — building facades, partitions, railings, skylights, structural glazing — under HSN 7007 19 00 toughened and HSN 7007 29 00 laminated. IS 2553 Part 2 covers safety glass for road vehicles (passenger cars, commercial vehicles, two- and three-wheelers, agricultural tractors) under HSN 7007 11 00 toughened windshields and side glass and HSN 7007 21 10 and HSN 7007 21 90 laminated windshields. The two parts carry distinct testing routines — Part 2 mandates additional automotive-specific tests including the headform impact test, the moisture and weathering test for laminated windshields, and the optical distortion grid test in the primary viewing zone — and a CM/L issued against Part 1 does not authorise supply against vehicle-glazing contracts, which additionally require AIS-008 type-approval from a MoRTH-recognised agency.
Are imported glass containers subject to BIS?
Glass containers for food and beverage packaging — bottles, jars, vials — fall outside the Safety Glass (Quality Control) Order under Chapter 70 HSN 7007 and sit under HSN 7010, which is not currently within the BIS notified perimeter under the ISI Mark Scheme. However, glass food-contact containers attract independent obligations under the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018 administered by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, covering overall migration, specific migration limits for lead and cadmium, and packaging integrity. Importers sourcing dual-purpose Chapter 70 consignments — safety glass under HSN 7007 alongside container glass under HSN 7010 from the same supplier — must hold the BIS FMCS for the HSN 7007 cohort and FSSAI packaging clearance for the HSN 7010 cohort separately, and customs verifies each regulator's portal against the corresponding bill of entry line.
What is the AIS overlay for automotive glass?
The Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) overlay is administered by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, with AIS-008 (Safety Glasses) governing type-approval of glass for vehicle glazing — windshields, side windows, rear glass — across passenger cars, commercial vehicles, two- and three-wheelers, and agricultural tractors. AIS-008 operates concurrent with the BIS Safety Glass (Quality Control) Order under IS 2553 Part 2, not in substitution: a vehicle homologation under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 requires both an AIS-008 Type Approval Certificate from a MoRTH-recognised testing agency (ARAI, ICAT, VRDE, GARC) and a current BIS CM/L licence against IS 2553 Part 2 on each glass supplier. Importers of automotive safety glass must produce both the BIS CM/L number on manakonline.in and the AIS-008 type-approval certificate at the port, and a missing or mismatched AIS reference triggers detention from day 1 even where the BIS licence is current.
Last verified against gazette notifications: 2026-05-23. Source: BIS / DGFT / Indian Customs CUSDATA.