NIC 2008 – National Industrial Classification for India

The National Industrial Classification (NIC) is an essential Statistical Standard for developing and maintaining comparable data base according to economic activities. Such classifications are frequently used in classifying the economically active population, statistics of industrial production and distribution, the different fields of labour statistics and other economic data such as national income. Comparability of statistics available from various sources, on different aspects of the economy, and usability of such data for economic analysis, are prerequisite for standardization of a system of classification.

NIC CODE	INDIAN INDUSTRIES
A	AGRICULTURE, FORESTY AND FISHING
B	MINING AND QUARRYING
C	MANUFACTURING
D	ELECTRICITY, GAS, STEAM AND AIRCONDITION SUPPLY
E	WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE, WASTE MANAGEMENT and
F	CONSTRUCTION
G	WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE; REPAIR OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES
H	TRANSPORT AND STORAGE
I	ACCOMODATION AND FOOD SERVICE ACTIVITIES
J	INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
K	FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE ACTIVITIES
L	REAL ESTATE ACTIVITIES
M	PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES
N	ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT SERVICE ACTIVITIES
O	PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEFENCE; COMPULSORY SOCIAL SECURITY
P	EDUCATION
Q	Human health and social work activities
R	Arts, entertainment and recreation
S	OTHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES
T	ACTIVITIES OF HOUSEHOLDS AS EMPLOYERS; UNDIFFERENTIATED GOODS AND SERVICES-PRODUCING ACTIVITIES OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR OWN USE

National Industrial Classification – 2008

National Industrial Classification 2008 (NIC-2008) is a revised version of NIC-2004. The 38th session of the UN Statistical Commission recommend that countries should make an effort either to adopt national versions of the ISIC, Revision 4, or to adjust their national classifications in such a way that data can be presented according to the categories of the ISIC, 10 Revision 4. Specifically, countries should be able to report data at the two-digit (division) level of the Classification without a loss of information; that is, national classifications should be fully compatible with this level of the ISIC, or it should be possible to arrange them.

India being a part of the UN Expert group on classification, decided to adopt ISICrev. 4 as a basis to build up revised version of its own activity classification, NIC-2004. The National Industrial Classification 2008 seeks to provide a basis for the standardized collection, analysis and dissemination of industry (economic activity) wise economic data for India. Apart from being the standard industrial classification, that underpins Indian Industrial Statistics, NIC is widely used by the government agencies, industry associations and researchers for various administrative, analytical and research purposes. The revised NIC-2008 provides a more contemporary industrial classification system. Changes in structure and composition of the economy, changing user requirements and comparability with international standards have been taken into account while developing NIC-2008.

The structural difference between NIC-2004 (based on ISIC-rev.3.1) and NIC-2008 (based on ISIC-rev. 4) is in grouping of activities since more emphasis on ‘relevance’ was considered.

All the activities are grouped into several “activity groups” or “tabulation categories” in a hierarchical manner. Activities are first grouped into ‘section’ alphabetically coded from A through U, every section is divided into ‘division’ with 2-digit numeric code, every division into ‘group’ with 3-digit numeric code, every group into ‘class’ with 4-digit numeric code and every 4-digit class into 5-digit ‘sub-class’. The structure is illustrated below.

Section C Manufacturing

Division 13 Manufacture of textiles

Group 131 Spinning, weaving and finishing of textiles

Class 1311 Preparation and spinning of textile fibres

Sub-Class 13111 Preparation and spinning of cotton fibre including blended cotton

The structure of NIC-2008 is identical to the structure of ISIC Rev. 4 up to 4-digit level ‘class’. Classes were then divided into 5-digit ‘sub classes’ according to national requirements.