The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For publishing of newspapers, that activity is 58131.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
58131 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for publishing of newspapers: a sub-class of class 5813, publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals, within division 58, publishing activities. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 58Group 581Class 5813Sub-class 58131
Publishing of newspapers
Sub-class 58131 · Class 5813 · Group 581 · Division 58 · Section J, NIC 2008
The code
Where the code sits in the National Industrial Classification 2008, from section to sub-class, in the official wording.
581315 digits: 58 + 1 + 3 + 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 58131. 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 58 covers publishing activities. It sits in section J, information and communication.
Publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities.
Publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Publishing of newspapers. The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
58131 is a sub-class of class 5813, publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class includes the activities in print or electronic form, including on the Internet. Publishing of radio and television schedules is included here.
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 58131 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For publishing of newspapers, that activity is 58131.
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
58131 is for publishing of newspapers. The codes below sit closest to it in NIC 2008: the other sub-classes of class 5813. Each has its own page with the official wording.
Class 5813 has 2 sub-classes in NIC 2008, including 58131.
Questions
Publishing of newspapers, in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 5813, publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals.
Class 5813, publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals, has 2 sub-classes in NIC 2008. Besides 58131, they are: 58132 (Publishing of journals and periodicals).
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 5813, 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.