The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For cargo handling incidental to air transport, that activity is 52243.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
52243 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for cargo handling incidental to air transport: a sub-class of class 5224, cargo handling, within division 52, warehousing and support activities for transportation. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 52Group 522Class 5224Sub-class 52243
Cargo handling incidental to air transport
Sub-class 52243 · Class 5224 · Group 522 · Division 52 · Section H, NIC 2008
The code
Where the code sits in the National Industrial Classification 2008, from section to sub-class, in the official wording.
522435 digits: 52 + 2 + 4 + 3NIC 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 52243. 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 52 covers warehousing and support activities for transportation. It sits in section H, transport and storage.
Support activities for transportation.
Cargo handling. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Cargo handling incidental to air transport. The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
52243 is a sub-class of class 5224, cargo handling. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class excludes:
- - operation of terminal facilities, see 5221, 5222 and 5223
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 52243 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For cargo handling incidental to air transport, that activity is 52243.
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
52243 is for cargo handling incidental to air transport. The codes below sit closest to it in NIC 2008: the other sub-classes of class 5224 and other classes in group 522. Each has its own page with the official wording.
52241Class 5224 · another sub-class of the same class52242Class 5224 · another sub-class of the same classClass 5224 has 3 sub-classes in NIC 2008, including 52243.
These belong to other classes in group 522, support activities for transportation. 52243 itself is in class 5224. Use the search above for any other code on this page.
Questions
Cargo handling incidental to air transport, in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 5224, cargo handling.
Class 5224, cargo handling, has 3 sub-classes in NIC 2008. Besides 52243, they are: 52241 (Cargo handling incidental to land transport); 52242 (Cargo handling incidental to water transport).
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 5224, 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.