As the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) issued new safety regulations concerning machinery and electrical equipment, it is expected to hamper domestic production by micro, small and medium enterprises. As per the global trade research initiative (GTRI), it will lead to a delay in the import of essential equipment. The think tank called for the extension in the compliance timeline, implementation in a phased manner and support from the Centre in dealing with regulations.
As per the think tank, the corporations which are large in nature have the required resources to comply with the new safety standards, it is the MSMEs which are facing problems due to their financial, technical and infrastructural constraints. The small businesses don’t possess the required resources to work in compliance.
The Ministry brought the Machinery and Electrical Equipment Safety (Omnibus Technical Regulation) Order, 2024 on 28 August 2024. The order, effective from 28 August 2025, aims to align the Indian safety standards with global norms by bringing in safety standards for the machinery and electrical equipment manufactured or imported into the country.
The think tank added that manufacturers are going to have far-reaching consequences, especially for the MSMEs as they make up around 90 per cent of estimated manufacturers. As around 50,000 types of machinery have been covered under the regulations, key industrial equipment including pumps, cranes and looms have been included.
During the financial year 2024, India’s imports in these tariff lines totalled USD 25 billion. China contributed around 39.1 per cent of that figure. As far as the exports are concerned, the country exported around USD 17.7 billion worth of machinery during the period. As the new regulations apply to machinery and their parts, the manufacturers will be required to comply with the standards which have been set forth by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
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