On September 20, 2025, during the event “Celebrating a Decade of Make in India and Exploring Next-Gen Reforms 2.0” in New Delhi, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, unveiled a Guidebook on Mapping of Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) Codes, crafted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). This comprehensive guide assigns 12,167 HSN Codes to 31 Ministries and Departments of the Government of India, fostering a data-driven strategy to enhance manufacturing growth, attract investments, and streamline trade processes. It is poised to serve as a cornerstone for developing a robust and competitive manufacturing ecosystem.
Shri Goyal highlighted the Guidebook’s importance as a pivotal step toward bolstering domestic production capabilities and driving sectoral progress. He noted its role in facilitating more strategic trade agreement negotiations aligned with India’s economic priorities and strengths. By enabling precise identification of the responsible Ministry or Department for each HSN Code, the initiative simplifies regulatory frameworks and enhances the ease of doing business. Shri Goyal emphasized that the Guidebook will be instrumental in realizing the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047, ensuring governance that aligns with industry needs.
The Guidebook’s development stemmed from challenges observed in trade negotiations, import substitution efforts, and addressing industry concerns due to the lack of clear HSN Code mappings. Previously, unmapped codes were often mislabeled as ‘Residual Products’ due to ambiguous ownership. To resolve this, DPIIT adopted a thorough approach, conducting value-chain and use-case analyses for all 12,167 HSN Codes sourced from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Tariff Manual.
This was followed by a detailed review of the Allocation of Business (AoB) Rules, 1961, to map each HSN Code according to the product’s nature and end-use. The process involved extensive Inter-Ministerial Consultations, multiple Joint Working Group sessions, over 300 individual meetings with Ministries and Departments, and numerous stakeholder engagements with industry representatives. Feedback was meticulously analyzed and integrated to reflect practical realities.
The result was the successful mapping of 12,167 HSN Codes to 31 Ministries and Departments, culminating in the creation of the Guidebook—a vital tool for advancing manufacturing and trade objectives. To ensure its effective utilization, the Guidebook includes a dedicated section, “How to Use the Guidebook?”, structured around three key pillars. The “Manufacture in India” pillar focuses on establishing India as a global manufacturing hub through targeted policy alignment, value chain enhancement, and workforce development. The “Strengthen Brand India” pillar aims to elevate the global reputation of the ‘Made in India’ brand by prioritizing quality improvements. The “Make for the World” pillar supports more effective trade negotiations, enabling Indian products to gain a stronger foothold in global markets.
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