The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For washing, dehydrating, pulverizing, compressing of lignite, that activity is 05203.
NIC code · National Industrial Classification 2008
05203 is the 5-digit NIC 2008 code for washing, dehydrating, pulverizing, compressing of lignite: a sub-class of class 0520, mining of lignite, within division 05, mining of coal and lignite. Search a code or activity below, or copy the code for your Udyam or SPICe+ form.
This code
Division 05Group 052Class 0520Sub-class 05203
Washing, dehydrating, pulverizing, compressing of lignite
Sub-class 05203 · Class 0520 · Group 052 · Division 05 · Section B, NIC 2008
The code
Where the code sits in the National Industrial Classification 2008, from section to sub-class, in the official wording.
052035 digits: 05 + 2 + 0 + 3NIC 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 05203. 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 05 covers mining of coal and lignite. It sits in section B, mining and quarrying.
Mining of lignite.
Mining of lignite. The official note for this class is quoted below.
Washing, dehydrating, pulverizing, compressing of lignite. The full 5-digit code you enter where a form asks for the business activity by NIC code.
What it covers
05203 is a sub-class of class 0520, mining of lignite. The NIC 2008 document explains the class in the note below, quoted exactly.
This class excludes:
- - hard coal mining, see 0510
- - peat digging, see 0892
- - test drilling for coal mining, see 0990
- - support activities for lignite mining, see 0990
- - manufacture of lignite fuel briquettes, see 1920
- - work performed to develop or prepare properties for coal mining, see 4312
Where you use it
Two registration forms ask for the business activity by NIC code. This is where 05203 is entered.
The MSME registration asks for the business activity by NIC code. For washing, dehydrating, pulverizing, compressing of lignite, that activity is 05203.
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.
Questions
Washing, dehydrating, pulverizing, compressing of lignite, in the National Industrial Classification 2008. It is a sub-class of class 0520, mining of lignite.
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 0520, 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.