India / BIS / MeitY
India's BIS registration list grew again — to standalone hard drives
- BIS already gates market access for 65 categories of electronics and IT products under its Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS).
- Gazette Notification S.O. 2204(E), issued 5th May 2026, added standalone hard disk drives to the list.
- The addition takes effect 5th November 2026.
Last updated 15th September 2026 · By Vas Parshin and Anabel Amar
What S.O. 2204(E) actually changed
On 5th May 2026, MeitY published Gazette Notification S.O. 2204(E), amending the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021. The amendment substitutes the Serial No. 50 entry in the Order's Schedule with "Standalone Hard Disk Drives". Covered drives must be tested against IS 13252 (Part 1):2010 and hold valid BIS registration before the requirement takes effect on 5th November 2026. The notification states that USB Type External Hard Disk Drives continue to be governed by the existing notified provisions — those were already inside BIS's regulatory perimeter — while all other standalone HDDs, internal and bare-drive units included, come in alongside them.
The wider point: CRS scope keeps expanding
BIS's Compulsory Registration Scheme began with 15 product categories in 2012 and has expanded in phases since; BIS's own Scheme II list now runs to 65 electronics and IT goods, including smartphones, laptops, power banks, smartwatches, LED lighting, printers and CCTV cameras, with solar PV modules, certain chemicals and textile products notified separately by other ministries. CRS runs on a self-declaration model — test the product at a BIS-recognised lab against the applicable IS/IEC standard, submit the report with the registration application, then carry the BIS Standard Mark and R-number once approved — which is lighter-touch than a full factory-audit scheme, but selling a notified product without a valid registration is a legal violation in India, not a soft compliance gap. The HDD amendment is one instance of a pattern: MeitY adds categories and revises existing entries on an ongoing basis, so a product line's CRS status is worth rechecking on a schedule, not assumed to be settled once and left alone.
Who this actually lands on
Any manufacturer or importer placing standalone HDDs — or any of the other categories on BIS's CRS list — on the Indian market. Storage and component suppliers who assumed only finished consumer devices needed BIS registration are exactly who this amendment catches: a bare or internal drive sold as a component can now trigger the same registration duty as a finished laptop or external drive. Anyone exporting consumer electronics or IoT hardware into India should treat CRS scope as a standing check against each new product line, not a one-off lookup.
Questions
What is BIS CRS?
The Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) is run by the Bureau of Indian Standards under India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It requires notified electronics and IT products to be tested at a BIS-recognised lab, meet the applicable Indian Standard, and be registered with BIS before they can be manufactured, imported or sold in India. It started with 15 product categories in 2012, and BIS's current Scheme II list covers 65 electronics and IT product categories, including laptops, mobile phones, power banks, smartwatches, LED lighting, printers and CCTV cameras; solar PV, certain chemicals and textiles are notified separately by other ministries.
What just changed with standalone hard disk drives?
MeitY issued Gazette Notification S.O. 2204(E) on 5th May 2026, amending the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021 to substitute the Serial No. 50 entry in its Schedule with "Standalone Hard Disk Drives". Covered drives must meet IS 13252 (Part 1):2010 and hold valid BIS registration before the requirement takes effect on 5th November 2026. USB-interface external hard drives were already inside BIS's regulatory perimeter; this amendment brings internal and bare-drive units in as well.
Is CRS a one-time list or does its scope keep expanding?
It keeps expanding. CRS began with 15 categories in 2012, and BIS's Scheme II list now runs to 65 electronics and IT goods, with new products — and new sub-categories of existing entries, as with HDDs in 2026 — added by amendment on an ongoing basis. A product that was outside CRS scope last year is not guaranteed to stay outside it.
How does a manufacturer actually get CRS registration?
CRS operates on a self-declaration model: the product is tested at a BIS-recognised laboratory against the applicable IS/IEC standard, the manufacturer submits the test report with its registration application, and once approved the product carries the BIS Standard Mark with a registration (R-) number. It is lighter-touch than schemes requiring routine factory inspection, but selling a notified product without a valid registration is a legal violation, not just a market-access inconvenience.
Where we fit
Exporting into India alongside the EU, UK, US or Korea usually means adding a separate CRS scope check to whatever regulatory review already covers those markets — and rechecking it as BIS's list grows. We fold India's CRS scope and standard-conformity check into the same market-access review we run for the other jurisdictions we cover, so it's one process per product, not a separate one to track per country.
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