The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For defence activities, that activity is 84220.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
84220 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for defence activities: a sub-class of class 8422, defence activities, within division 84, public administration and defence; compulsory social security. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 84Group 842Class 8422Sub-class 84220
Defence activities
Sub-class 84220 · Class 8422 · Group 842 · Division 84 · Section O, NIC 2008
The code
Where the code sits in the National Industrial Classification 2008, from section to sub-class, in the official wording.
842205 digits: 84 + 2 + 2 + 0NIC 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 84220. 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 84 covers public administration and defence; compulsory social security. It sits in section O, public administration and defence; compulsory social security.
Provision of services to the community as a whole.
Defence activities. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Defence activities. The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
84220 is a sub-class of class 8422, defence activities. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class includes administration, supervision and operation of military defence affairs and land, sea, air and space defence forces; administration, operation and support of civil defence forces; support for the working out of contingency plans and the carrying out of exercises in which civilian institutions and populations are involved; administration of defence-related R&D policies and related funds
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 84220 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For defence activities, that activity is 84220.
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
84220 is for defence activities. The codes below sit closest to it in NIC 2008: other classes in group 842. Each has its own page with the official wording.
These belong to other classes in group 842, provision of services to the community as a whole. 84220 itself is in class 8422. Use the search above for any other code on this page.
Questions
Defence activities, in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 8422, defence activities.
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 8422, 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.