Government releases HSN Code guidebook, assigns products to ministries to boost manufacturing
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has released a Guidebook on Mapping of Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) Codes, allocating 12,167 product codes across 31 ministries and Departments of the Central Government.
The guidebook designates specific custodians for each product code, using a data-driven approach for industrial growth, investment promotion, and trade facilitation, an official statement said.
The guidebook identifies the responsible ministry or department for each code to streamline regulatory processes and enhance India’s ease of doing business.
The minister launched the book at an event celebrating 10 years of Make in India initiative and discussing Next Gen-Reforms 2.0. The guidebook shall serve as the foundation for building a resilient and competitive manufacturing ecosystem, it added.
Further, the guidebook will also support more effective Trade Agreement negotiations which are aligned with national economic priorities and domain strengths.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade addressed the issues of unmapped or misclassified HSN codes by conducting value-chain and use-case analyses of each code, reviewing Allocation of Business rules, and holding over 300 one-on-one meetings with ministries and departments, along with extensive stakeholder consultations.
A dedicated section titled “How to Use the Guidebook?” has also been developed and the guidebook is organised in three operational pillars.
The first segment on “Manufacture in India” aims to align sector-specific policies, strengthen value chains, and enhance workforce capabilities. Other segments are namely “Strengthen Brand India” and “Make for the World”.
India's manufacturing sector experienced strong growth in FY 24 as Gross Value Added (GVA) increased by 11.89 per cent, up from 7.3 per cent from the previous year, according to the latest data from Annual Survey of Industries (ASI).
