With progressive de-licensing of the industries, only four industries have been retained under compulsory licensing under the Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951:

• Electronic Aerospace and Defence Equipment
• Industrial Explosives
• Specified Hazardous Chemicals
• Cigars and cigarettes of tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes
  (Fresh Licenses are not being granted for manufacture of this item on health grounds since 1999.)

Applicants can apply online for the grant of Industrial Licenses on this G2B portal under the IDR Act, 1951 and the Arms Act, 1959.

Yes, DPIIT issues Industrial License under the Arms Act, 1959 for certain categories of products, specifically for Military and Defence applications.

Please refer to Press Note 1 (2019) dated 01-01-2019, published by DPIIT.

Click here to view the document

• Under the IDR Act, 1951
  Industrial Licenses are granted to applicants for the manufacture of items that are compulsorily licensable under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 (IDR Act) by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Under the Arms Act, 1959
  As per the delegation of powers by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), DPIIT issues Industrial Licenses under the Arms Act, 1959 for:
  • Arms and ammunitions of caliber 12.7 mm and above
  • Crew-fired weapons
  • Allied items of defence equipment
  The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issues Industrial Licenses under the Arms Act, 1959 for:
  • Arms and ammunitions of caliber below 12.7 mm
  • Other items as per the mandate under the Act

Any Indian company, incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), Sole Proprietorship and Partnership Companies.

No, only Indian companies are considered for the grant of Industrial Licenses under IDR Act, 1951 and under Arms Act, 1959.

Yes. An SME unit also requires an Industrial License under the IDR Act, 1951 and the Arms Act, 1959 for the manufacture of licensable items under these Acts.

Industrial License is essentially required for all the existing and new industrial units and industrial units that are being expanded or are covered as per Press Note 1 (2019) dated 01-01-2019 published by DPIIT. Click here to view the document

Foreign investment is allowed under IDR Act, 1951 and the Arms Act, 1959, however, these Acts do not govern foreign investment specifically. Foreign investment is primarily governed by FDI Policy, FEMA Act and other laws like Companies Act and other regulations issued by Reserve Bank of India, from time to time.

All applications for Industrial Licenses under the IDR Act, 1951 and the Arms Act, 1959, except for Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Export Oriented Units (EoU), can be applied online through the G2B Portal.

For SEZ Area, the licenses are issued by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry under the IDR Act, 1951, whereas, under the Arms Act 1959, licenses are issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Yes, a unique acknowledgement number is issued for every successfully completed application on the G2B portal.

• The applications are scrutinized on the DPIIT G2B portal for acceptance of applications complete in all respect for further processing
• If some information is sought from the applicants, the applicants are requested to submit the information online on G2B portal only. The applicants are also requested to submit the documents online on G2B portal only.
• If the applications are found complete, the applications are accepted for further processing and the applicants are given acceptance of application, with accepted Application number on the portal itself.
• The applications are then circulated to all the concerned agencies, including the state government, where the proposed facility is located, for comments.
• After the receipt of comments from all the concerned agencies, the proposal is taken up for the consideration by the Licensing Committee.
• The applicants are granted Industrial License (IL) based on the recommendations of the Licensing Committee and due approval process.

The applications are circulated to all the concerned agencies, including the State Government. These agencies may take some time to obtain NOC/clearances from their stakeholders.

However, all efforts are being made to issue the Industrial License within 05 months after receiving the accepted application with complete documents from the applicant.

• For documents, only PDF files are allowed, with a maximum size of 2 MB each and up to 10 MB each for land documents, Memorandum of Association (MoA) & Articles of Association (AOA) of the company. Only alphanumeric characters are allowed in the filename.

• For photographs, only jpg files are allowed. The maximum image size is 100KB and image name can be alphanumeric.

• The applicants are advised to name files for an easy identification of documents.

The applicant is given an opportunity to submit the requisite documents within 30 days.

Proof of the Industrial unit land: Industrial land must be owned in the name of the company; or, Industrial land must be on a lease for not less than 30 years and free of encumbrances; Documents supporting the land use – Industrial Industrial License application under the IDR Act, 1951:

An applicant can primarily apply for manufacture of items for defence and military applications as per Annexure-I of Press Note 1 (2019) dated 01-01-2019 published by DPIIT, including Industrial Explosives, Hazardous Chemicals etc under IDR Act, 1951 for grant of an Industrial License.

An application fee of ?2500 is applicable under the IDR Act, 1951, which can be paid online via UPI, Net Banking, Debit Card, or Credit Card etc through the G2B Portal.

The total period of validity of the Industrial license (IL) is 18 years (15 years + extendable by 3 years on the request of an applicant), within which the commercial production has to commence. In case the commercial production has not commenced within this period, the license would be treated as automatically lapsed.

No. No permission for commencement of commercial production for an Industrial License granted under the IDR Act, 1951 is required, however the licensee is required to notify the commencement of commercial production and submit six-monthly returns on G2B portal after establishing commercial production.

Yes, in certain cases. Please check provisions of IDR Act, 1951.

An applicant can apply for an amendment in Industrial License for change in Board of Directors, addition of items, capacity enhancement and addition of another facility, change in name of company, subject to the provisions under IDR Act, 1951 and terms and conditions of the Industrial License.

The applicant can apply for amendments in an existing Industrial License (IL) via the G2B portal for Industrial Licenses issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Form G is a progress report that an industrial license (IL) holder must submit every six months before the start of commercial production under IDR Act, 1951. Industrial License application under the Arms Act, 1959:

An applicant can primarily apply for manufacture, proof test or both of arms, ammunition, weapons of caliber 12.7 mm and above, crew fired weapons, tanks, armourded fighting vehicles and allied items of defence equipment, configured for military use etc as per Annexure-II of Press Note 1 (2019) dated 01-01-2019 published by DPIIT, under Arms Act, 1959 for grant of an Industrial License.

There is no application fee to apply under the Arms Act, 1959, however, a license fee is prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which is to be paid via Demand Draft (sought at a later stage).

Licenses under the Arms Act 1959 are issued without a validity period, provided that the licensee is required to setup the facility for manufacture or proof test of arms and/or ammunition and other activities related to setting up of the facility within 7 years. This 7 years period may be extended by another 3 years on the basis of a written representation, subject to the provisions of the Arms Rules, 2016.

Yes. Licensee has to obtain prior permission and shall make an application for commencement of Commercial Production under the Arms Act 1959.

Yes, in certain cases. Please check provisions of the Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules, 2016.

An applicant can apply for an amendment in Industrial License for change in Board of Directors, change in name of company, subject to the provisions under Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules, 2016 terms and conditions of the Industrial License. A fresh license is required for capacity revision. For more details, the applicants are requested to refer to under Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules, 2016 thereunder.

The applicant can apply for the amendments in existing IL, granted under the Arms Act, 1959 via G2B portal for Industrial Licenses issued by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Note: For any further questions regarding the grant of a license under the Arms Act, 1959, please visit https://ndal-alis.gov.in/armslicence/howToApply

Please refer to the Checklist and List of Documents required: View Document.