BND-4201 is India’s first home-grown high purity gold reference standard

India’s first home-grown high purity gold reference standard – the Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND-4201) – was launched at the India Government Mint (IGM), Mumbai on December 24, 2017. The BND-4201 is the reference material for gold of ‘9999’ fineness (gold that is 99.99% pure) and will be beneficial to the consumers and public at large to ensure purity of gold. The high purity gold reference standard has been developed through collaboration between IGM, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre — National Centre for Compositional Characterisation of Materials (Hyderabad), and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-National Physical Laboratory (New Delhi). The gold reference standard is indispensable in gold and jewellery hall marking. This will also be useful for Collection and Purity Testing Centres to certify the purity of gold deposits under the gold monetization scheme.