The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For activities of food service contractors (e.g. for transportation companies), that activity is 56291.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
56291 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for activities of food service contractors (e.g. for transportation companies): a sub-class of class 5629, other food service activities, within division 56, food and beverage service activities. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 56Group 562Class 5629Sub-class 56291
Activities of food service contractors (e.g. for transportation companies)
Sub-class 56291 · Class 5629 · Group 562 · Division 56 · Section I, NIC 2008
The code
Where the code sits in the National Industrial Classification 2008, from section to sub-class, in the official wording.
562915 digits: 56 + 2 + 9 + 1NIC 2025 · Notice dated 16 October 2026
On 18 November 2025 the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released NIC 2025, which uses 6-digit codes aligned with the UN's ISIC Revision 5. This page shows the NIC 2008 code 56291. The matching NIC 2025 code will be added here once it is mapped from MoSPI's official concordance.
How to read it
An NIC code is built in layers. Each digit narrows the one before it: the division, the group, the class, and finally the 5-digit sub-class. Divisions themselves are grouped under lettered sections.
The broadest numbered layer. Division 56 covers food and beverage service activities. It sits in section I, accommodation and food service activities.
Event catering and other food service activities.
Other food service activities. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Activities of food service contractors (e.g. for transportation companies). The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
56291 is a sub-class of class 5629, other food service activities. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class excludes:
- - manufacture of perishable food items for resale, see 1079
- - retail sale of perishable food items, see division 47
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 56291 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For activities of food service contractors (e.g. for transportation companies), that activity is 56291.
The company incorporation form asks for the main industrial activity of the proposed company by NIC code.
Not GST. GST registration does not use NIC codes; goods and services there are classified by HSN and SAC codes.
Choosing the right code
56291 is for activities of food service contractors (e.g. for transportation companies). The codes below sit closest to it in NIC 2008: the other sub-classes of class 5629. Each has its own page with the official wording.
Class 5629 has 2 sub-classes in NIC 2008, including 56291.
Questions
Activities of food service contractors (e.g. for transportation companies), in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 5629, other food service activities.
Class 5629, other food service activities, has 2 sub-classes in NIC 2008. Besides 56291, they are: 56292 (Operation of canteens or (e.g. for factories, offices, hospitals or schools) on a concession basis).
In Udyam Registration, which asks for the business activity by NIC code, and in the SPICe+ company incorporation form, which asks for the main industrial activity by NIC code. GST registration does not use NIC codes.
About this page
The section, division, group, class and sub-class on this page, and the explanatory note for class 5629, are taken word for word from the official document “National Industrial Classification (All Economic Activities) 2008”, Central Statistical Organisation, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India.
This is reference information on the classification of a business activity. It is not advice on which code your own business should declare, and the official NIC document prevails if the two ever differ. A change in the classification, including the MoSPI concordance to NIC 2025, re-opens this page for checking.
Not sure which code fits your activity, or spotted a mismatch? Use the WhatsApp button on this page and tell us what the business sells and how.