Quality Control Orders and Impact on Exports

The Indian government is deciding to boost exports through Quality Control Orders (QCOs) instead of providing subsidies to the export sector.

About Quality Control Orders (QCOs)

These are regulations that require products to meet minimum quality standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
187 QCOs have been notified for 769 products by March 2025.
The government believes that subsidies alone cannot increase exports.
Therefore, now exporters will be pressured to improve through quality standards in line with the new policy.

The government is ready to help exporters in land acquisition and clearing other regulatory hurdles.
However, there are no plans to increase subsidies, except in some special cases, such as the production of rare earth batteries, for which a supply crisis has arisen.

Improvement in quality: QCOs enforce the minimum quality standards of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) which will increase the global acceptance of exported products.
Increase in competitiveness: Meeting the quality standards in the global market will make Indian exporters competitive in markets like Europe, US.
Impact on export cost: The initial cost to comply with QCOs may increase, especially for MSMEs, which will upgrade the production process.
Impact on global supply chain: The imposition of QCOs on products like rare earth batteries will reduce India's dependence on foreign companies. Indigenous production will be boosted, leading to self-sufficiency in exports.

Opposition: Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Beri has described QCOs as a distortive intervention which may impact MSMEs.
Support: The government believes that improving quality will increase the competitiveness of Indian products in the international market and thus boost exports.
Industry demand: The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) has demanded subsidy on purchase of alternative fuel heavy machinery for mining to offset the high cost of electric trucks.