The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For printing of newspapers, that activity is 18111.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
18111 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for printing of newspapers: a sub-class of class 1811, printing, within division 18, printing and reproduction of recorded media. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 18Group 181Class 1811Sub-class 18111
Printing of newspapers
Sub-class 18111 · Class 1811 · Group 181 · Division 18 · 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.
181115 digits: 18 + 1 + 1 + 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 18111. 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 18 covers printing and reproduction of recorded media. It sits in section C, manufacturing.
Printing and service activities related to printing.
Printing. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Printing of newspapers. The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
18111 is a sub-class of class 1811, printing. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class excludes:
- - silk screen-printing on textiles and wearing apparel, see 1313
- - manufacture of paper articles, such as binders, see 1709
- - publishing of printed matter, see 581
- - photocopying of documents, see 8219
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 18111 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For printing of newspapers, that activity is 18111.
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
18111 is for printing of newspapers. The codes below sit closest to it in NIC 2008: the other sub-classes of class 1811. Each has its own page with the official wording.
18112Class 1811 · another sub-class of the same class18113Class 1811 · another sub-class of the same class18114Class 1811 · another sub-class of the same class18115Class 1811 · another sub-class of the same class18119Class 1811 · another sub-class of the same classClass 1811 has 6 sub-classes in NIC 2008, including 18111.
Questions
Printing of newspapers, in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 1811, printing.
Class 1811, printing, has 6 sub-classes in NIC 2008. Besides 18111, they are: 18112 (Printing of magazines and other periodicals, books and brochures, maps, atlases, posters etc.); 18113 (Printing of postage stams, taxation stamps, cheques and other security papers); 18114 (Printing of bank notes, currency notes); 18115 (Printing directly onto textiles, flexographic plastic, glass, metal, wood and ceramics); 18119 (Other printing activities like screen printing other than textile n.e.c.).
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 1811, 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.