After implementation of mandatory ISI mark on Plywood, MDF and particle board under QCO, the emerging changes are indeed phenomenal. There has never been so much interest and action for ISI mark related compliances among Industries which is happening currently.
There were around 800 active plywood licenses before Feb 2025, which happened to be the first confirmed due date of QCO implementation. By August 2025 the active licenses crossed 900 as the second cutoff date was August 2025 for SME industries. Till writing this news there are 1068 licensee which is expected to cross 1100 in next week or so. With the speedy compliance adoption happening on ground, this number is expected to cross 1400 by December and 1700 by March 2026. Yet there are 3500 plus wood panel industries, presently operating in the country and ISI marked units are still not visible beyond 1700 so far. In last 5 months, the impact has been significant yet a lot needs to be done.
On one side, Industry bodies are still having regular meetings within clusters and BIS departments and CED committees to adopt changes post QCO, at the same time a section of industries in every cluster is accusing BIS department of unwanted harassment, non-cooperation andextortion of money. The trade community is most smart and quietly accepting and adopting the norms plus changes happening in wood panel industry. In fact the larger part of trade community has gained momentum in the markets which is suddenly vacated by imported products.
Few fellow industry & trade groups are certainly pointing fingers and lodging formal complaints due to confusion and ambiguity, prevailing in the IS 710 and IS 4990 related norms. A set of People have sent complaint and resistance letters to Principal Secretary at PMO, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, DG at Bureau of Indian Standards, Trade Marks Registry department etc highlighting speedy enforcement against misuse of IS 710. The Ply Reporter witnessed the growing level of awareness among designer and furniture makers group on need of use of ISI marked plywood’s and wood panels and hardware fittings.
It is to be noted that Bending class in IS 303 have been created as sub category where various quality types and grades can be sold in market with mention of those grades, so that each of the plywood factory can sell only quality material.
In Plywood segment where most of the plywood units still need to be obtain ISI mark yet grappling with fear, hesitation and confusion. Although After clarity of plywood grades with “Bending Class 10, Bending class 20, Bending class 30 etc most of the smaller sized factories have applied/ applying for ISI 303 Bending class 10 and 20 so that majority of the production quantity passes through required ISI standard norms.
As it can be recalled, since two years Pragat Dvivedi at the Ply Reporter has been voicing the plywood industry’s conviction through his Sunday shows and Market Update sessions, asserting, “Without hesitation, every industry must apply for IS 303 license to keep going their production and dispatches smoothly” and finally plywood industry is actively doing that.”
It is to be noted that Bending class in IS 303 have been created as sub category where various quality types and grades can be sold in market with mention of those grades so that each of the plywood factory can sell only that quality of material and ask for an able pricing that is valid as per stamp and quality followed so that customers cannot be cheated. And finally, these actions are taking shape, yet the awareness among consumers is almost negligible as of now. But thankfully the quality products sales have started picking up and it is evident that dispatch will speed up after August 2025.
Few fellow industry are pointing fingers and lodging formal complaints due to confusion and ambiguity, prevailing in the IS 710 & IS 4990 related norms. A set of People have sent complaint & resistance letters to Principal Secretary at PMO, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, DG at BIS.
The matter related IS 710 w.r.t 12 kg retention and without retention is still undergoing and same factor is still under discussion when it comes to shuttering ply IS 4990. It is hoped that discussions in both the matters will speed upin the interest of a uniform and effective industry adoption.
The industry experts agree to the fact plywood industry and markets need a strict compliance effort for honest adoption so that Indian wood panel sector will grow faster.
Mr MP Singh, Director General of FIPPI says,”The impact of mandatory BIS is evident in industry. The import of wood panels has fallen from Rs 350 crore a month to merely Rs 35 crore a month. BIS need to remain patient as industry of small size industry need hand holding for ISI mark quality adoption.”
Mr Manoj Gawri who is a technical expert in BIS matters, says that industry has been slow but now it has become active and most of the clusters are growing with ISI registration numbers. Once BIS department will become stricter, entire industry will follow the QCO for ISI mark standards.
Mr Ashok Agarwal, President, UP-PMWA reflected that those who are still indulged in the illicit practices are more perturbed than those who are aligning themselves to new standards. Despite prevailing challenges, with respect to sample size, counterfeiting and standards ambiguities, one thing is certain that impact of BIS is much prominent now. Given their limited resources, a large section of industry is still trying to obtain BIS license for smooth operation.
Dr Prashant, President SIPMA informs that enterprises in Kerala is picking up the pace in BIS adoption, whereas Karnataka is catching up slowly but there is confusion about IS: 710, even among large scale industries. As far dealers are concerned, they are still afraid of being raided or extorted by BIS, so they are extra careful. Small enterprises are also aware that BIS has indispensable now. The effect of declined imports is yet to be realized in the market as there is no remarkable rise in the demand as of now.
Mr J K Bihani, President, HPMA asserts, “BIS also needs to beef up and develop its resources to address the grievance of the enterprises who have already obtained the license because their portal is riddled with so many complaints related to renewal of license, stocked material, undefined standards and so on that are still needed to be sorted.“
Mr Ibrahim, MD, K- Board says that almost all Kerala based Particle board units have obtained the BIS license whereas Plywood units are also approaching BIS portal with their application. As far as demand scenario is concerned, the situation is still grim because imports are still not completely checked. Therefore, both south & north plywood industry should collectively seek government in support of slapping at least 50% anti-dumping duty on the imported plywood.
[Published in Ply Reporter's October 2025 Print Issue]
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