The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), on March 27, 2024, issued an advisory for implementation of BIS Standards and Quality Control orders related to aluminium ingots, wire rods and wires used in the manufacture of power conductors and cables.
CEA has advised that transmission and distribution licensees shall specify suitable clauses in their tenders, that Aluminium ingots, wire rods and wires used for the manufacture of conductors / cables shall be made only from primary aluminium from the producers who have registered their wires, wire rods and aluminium ingots with BIS and are eligible as per the “Preference to Make in India Order” issued by relevant authorities under Ministry of Power, in line with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s (DPIIT’s) Public Procurement Order 2017 and its subsequent revisions.
Invoices for the procurement of raw materials like aluminium wires, wire rods and ingots shall be furnished for each consignment of conductors/ cables to be supplied along with the manufacturers’ test report for verification.
Aluminium wires, wire rods and ingots procured from open market and not bearing the BIS mark shall not be used for the manufacture of conductors/cables, the advisory said.
It may be mentioned that to ensure the quality of conductors, the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) along with Ministry of Mines and DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) had brought out the following quality control orders:
- Aluminium and Aluminium Alloy Products (Quality Control) Order 2023 (dated 25-09-2023) mandating the compliance of IS 5484 titled “EC grade Aluminium Rod produced by Continuous Casting and Rolling” and IS 2067 titled “Wrought Aluminium wire for electric purposes”.
- Aluminium and Aluminium Alloys (Quality Control) Order, 2023 (dated 31-08-2023) mandating the compliance of IS 4026 titled “Aluminium ingots billets and wire bars (EC GRADE)”.
All procuring entities have been advised to incorporate several factors in their tender documents. The important one is that bidder shall produce test/quality certificates to the procurer of conductors/ cables at the time of participation in the bid. The CEA states that all primary aluminium manufacturers have their own testing facilities and provide their own test/ quality certificates mentioning the elemental analysis of aluminium wires, wire rods and ingots supplied to their customers.
The CEA advisory has also mandated that procuring agencies (generally power T&D utilities) should submit a quarterly compliance report to the Central Electricity Authority.
Featured photograph (source: Apar Industries) is for representation only
