The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For Embroidering and embossing of leather articles, that activity is 15116.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
15116 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for Embroidering and embossing of leather articles: a sub-class of class 1511, tanning and dressing of leather; dressing and dyeing of fur, within division 15, manufacture of leather and related products. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 15Group 151Class 1511Sub-class 15116
Embroidering and embossing of leather articles
Sub-class 15116 · Class 1511 · Group 151 · Division 15 · Section C, NIC 2008
The code
Where the code sits in the National Industrial Classification 2008, from section to sub-class, in the official wording.
151165 digits: 15 + 1 + 1 + 6NIC 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 15116. 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 15 covers manufacture of leather and related products. It sits in section C, manufacturing.
Tanning and dressing of leather; manufacture of luggage, handbags, saddlery and harness; dressing and dyeing of fur.
Tanning and dressing of leather; dressing and dyeing of fur. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Embroidering and embossing of leather articles. The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
15116 is a sub-class of class 1511, tanning and dressing of leather; dressing and dyeing of fur. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class excludes:
- - production of hides and skins as part of ranching, see 014
- - production of hides and skins as part of slaughtering, see 1010
- - manufacture of leather apparel, see 1410
- - manufacture of imitation leather not based on natural leather, see 2219, 2220
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 15116 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For Embroidering and embossing of leather articles, that activity is 15116.
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
15116 is for Embroidering and embossing of leather articles. The codes below sit closest to it in NIC 2008: the other sub-classes of class 1511. Each has its own page with the official wording.
15119Class 1511 · another sub-class of the same class15111Class 1511 · another sub-class of the same class15114Class 1511 · another sub-class of the same classClass 1511 has 7 sub-classes in NIC 2008, including 15116. 3 of the others are shown here.
Questions
Embroidering and embossing of leather articles, in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 1511, tanning and dressing of leather; dressing and dyeing of fur.
Class 1511, tanning and dressing of leather; dressing and dyeing of fur, has 7 sub-classes in NIC 2008. Besides 15116, those with a page here are: 15119 (Other tanning, curing, finishing, embossing etc. of leather); 15111 (Flaying and curing of raw hides and skins); 15114 (Scraping, currying, tanning, bleaching, shearing and plucking and dyeing of fur skins and hides with the hair on).
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 1511, 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.