BIS to set up Pashmina testing centre in Leh

  1. Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS) would set up a Pashmina testing centre in Leh in partnership with the lab of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council(LAHDC),Leh.
  2. The pashmina products will also get a code from the Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS) certifying their genuineness and quality.
  3. Pashmina is a fine type of cashmere wool.Cashmere wool has strong, light,soft and fine texture.Pashmina translates to Soft Gold in Kashmiri.
  4. The cashmere wool is obtained from 4 distinct breeds of the Cashmere goat namely (a)Changthangi or Kashmir Pashmina goat from the Kashmir (b)Malra breed from Kargil area of Kashmir (c)Chegu breed from Himachal Pradesh and (d)Chyangra or Nepalese Pashmina breed from Nepal.
  5. Kashmir Pashmina has been assigned Geographical indication (GI) tag under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act,1999.
  6. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India working under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
  7. BIS was established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act,1986.The Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio President of the BIS.