(MENAFN- Live Mint)

New Delhi: The government has started a major overhaul of the regulatory framework for critical infrastructure and emerging technologies, a move that follows the withdrawal and extension of several key Quality Control Orders (QCOs) earlier this month. The government had withdrawn 14 products from the QCO ambit on 13 November.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has notified 12 new Indian Standards covering vital areas: cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, wind energy systems, and homoeopathic preparations. These standards are set to replace multiple outdated specifications by April 2026. This comprehensive update addresses outdated regulations, aligns India with international benchmarks.

The most significant upgrades are in cybersecurity and digital infrastructure. BIS has adopted revised international standards to address the growing threat landscape targeting industrial systems, utilities, IoT networks, and data-heavy applications.

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The industries expected to be directly affected include power utilities, telecom and data infrastructure companies, cybersecurity solution providers, IoT device manufacturers, and the critical process industry. Major companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Cisco, and Tech Mahindra, among others, will need to update their compliance mechanisms.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal reiterated the Union government's push for stricter quality enforcement, underlining the importance of high-standard products for consumers, at the Udyog Samagam 2025 on 11 November.

Wind energy

In parallel, BIS has notified new standards for wind energy systems, including guidelines on measuring the electrical characteristics of wind power plants and protocols for the marking and lighting of turbines. Major players, including Suzlon, Siemens Energy, and Vestas, will be impacted.

The key change is the requirement to test the electrical behaviour of an entire wind power plant, rather than just individual turbines, as earlier standards dictated. The new standard introduces detailed procedures for making grid integration more reliable and compliant..

It also adds clear rules for marking and lighting wind turbines for aviation and safety purposes, defining lighting placement, visibility requirements, and marking norms for towers and blades to meet updated international safety expectations.

A senior government official explained the necessity:“The new standard has been introduced because India's wind sector has moved to large, utility-scale wind farms where testing individual turbines is no longer enough to ensure safe and stable grid performance."

As wind penetration increases, grid operators now need precise data on how an entire wind plant behaves during voltage dips, frequency changes and other disturbances, the official said.

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Wind sector experts support the update. MP Ramesh, former director general, National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), stated, "Standards keep evolving. With the expanding power grid network and newer issues and challenges being faced, the same norms cannot be expected to continue." The required change in standards would have to be brought in.

Sneh Shah, whole-time director, Aimtron Electronics, affirmed the industry view:“For a manufacturer like Aimtron, the latest IS/ISO/IEC cybersecurity standards help shape how we design and protect our components, PCB assemblies, and connected systems." Controls such as secure firmware, hardware-level identity, segmentation of OT networks, and virtualised network protection have long been part of our engineering discipline. He noted that the updated standards reinforce these practices and strengthen the security backbone of India's growing IoT and embedded-electronics landscape.

“The introduction of stricter global standards like IEC 61400-21-2 for plant-level electrical verification and IEC/TS 61400-29 for mandatory aviation lighting marks a crucial maturity step for the wind sector. For India, this international alignment is a double-edged sword," said Saurabh Agarwal, partner, EY India.

“On one hand, adopting these rigorous processes will require significant investment and re-skilling for our manufacturers and project developers, potentially creating initial cost complexities, while on the other hand, a globally certified, higher-quality product-backed by transparent electrical performance data and essential safety features like aviation lighting-will boost investor confidence, reduce technical risk, and unlock global market access for Indian wind technology," said Agarwal.

Homeopathy quality

The notification also includes three new standards for homeopathic medicines, covering preparation methods for mother tinctures and specifications for raw materials like Holarrhena antidysenterica and sugar of milk.

These updated homeopathy standards bring uniform guidelines to areas where none existed. The new method for preparing mother tinctures-the liquid extracts that form the base for all homeopathic medicines-now specifies the exact percolation process. Previously, manufacturers employed various methods, resulting in quality variations. Clear purity and safety requirements have been established for commonly used raw materials, replacing loose and informal practices.

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