Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravyas (BND®): Indian Certified Reference Materials

Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND®) is the trademark of Certified Reference Material (CRM) of CSIR-NPL. BNDs are the primary standards, which ensure reliability and comparability of the measurements as a benchmark for the quality assurance achieved through international networking. Networking between the NMIs through bilateral cooperation, participation with international bodies/organization establishes wide-ranging recognition of BND in India. BND is the heart of India’s scientific and industrial development by establishing quality control in measurements. A detailed discussion to overcome barriers in international trade and standardization of measurement with high metrological aspect has been emphasized. BNDs are produced by CSIR-NPL: (i) in-house and (ii) in association with Reference Material Producers (RMPs) across the country as per ISO 17034 standard. A detailed emphasis on production of BNDs are given in Chap. 19. The BNDs produced by CSIR-NPL in different sectors are uploaded in the international COMAR database, i.e. COde d'Indexation des Materiaux de Reference (COMAR) for its global visibility. To enhance the impact of reference materials in the global economy, Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) has recently established national mirror committee on reference materials which is a part of ISO-REMCO (Committee on reference materials). The main aim of this chapter is to make the readers acquainted with process and guidelines who are working in reference standard and looking for certification of their products. This chapter describes the terminology/definition and international networking. The metrological traceability of BNDs established are linked to SI units which have been elaborated in detail. Further, the metrological perspective, such as testing, calibration, method of validation, repeatability, reproducibility studies, control chart preparation, inter-laboratory comparison, quality control and quality assurance are also discussed for a broader readership. A detailed emphasis has been given on international key comparison, proficiency/round-robin testing, pilot study in various sectors like physico-mechanical, physico-chemical, foods/feedstuffs, biomedical, environmental, health-care, agricultural etc. in this chapter.