The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For manufacture of lifts, escalators and moving walkways, that activity is 28161.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
28161 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for manufacture of lifts, escalators and moving walkways: a sub-class of class 2816, manufacture of lifting and handling equipment, within division 28, manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 28Group 281Class 2816Sub-class 28161
Manufacture of lifts, escalators and moving walkways
Sub-class 28161 · Class 2816 · Group 281 · Division 28 · 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.
281615 digits: 28 + 1 + 6 + 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 28161. 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 28 covers manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. It sits in section C, manufacturing.
Manufacture of general purpose machinery.
Manufacture of lifting and handling equipment. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Manufacture of lifts, escalators and moving walkways. The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
28161 is a sub-class of class 2816, manufacture of lifting and handling equipment. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class excludes:
- - manufacture of continuous-action elevators and conveyors for underground use, see 2824
- - manufacture of mechanical shovels, excavators and shovel loaders, see 2824
- - manufacture of industrial robots for multiple uses, see 2829
- - manufacture of floating cranes, railway cranes, crane-lorries, see 3011, 3020
- - installation of lifts and elevators, see 4329
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 28161 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For manufacture of lifts, escalators and moving walkways, that activity is 28161.
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
28161 is for manufacture of lifts, escalators and moving walkways. The codes below sit closest to it in NIC 2008: the other sub-classes of class 2816. Each has its own page with the official wording.
Class 2816 has 2 sub-classes in NIC 2008, including 28161.
Questions
Manufacture of lifts, escalators and moving walkways, in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 2816, manufacture of lifting and handling equipment.
Class 2816, manufacture of lifting and handling equipment, has 2 sub-classes in NIC 2008. Besides 28161, they are: 28162 (Manufacture of other lifting and handling equipment and parts thereof).
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 2816, 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.