Udyam Registration in 2026: How to Register Your MSME Free, Step by Step

If you run a workshop, a shop, a services firm or a small factory in India, Udyam registration is the one government ID that unlocks MSME benefits — priority bank lending, the 45-day payment rule, and preference in tenders and schemes. This guide walks you through the 2026 process on the official portal, the documents you need, how the revised 2025 limits classify your business, and how to update, migrate or cancel a registration later.

Quick answer

Udyam registration is the government's free, online MSME registration at udyamregistration.gov.in. You file a self-declaration using Aadhaar OTP and PAN, nothing is uploaded, and the e-certificate with a permanent Udyam Registration Number is issued once the form is submitted.

• Government fee: Free — anyone charging you is a private agent

• Micro = investment up to ₹2.5 crore and turnover up to ₹10 crore (limits revised from 1 April 2025)

• Needs Aadhaar of the owner/signatory, the business PAN, and GSTIN only if GST law requires one

• No renewal — but details must be kept updated from your ITR and GST returns

What Udyam registration is — and what it replaced

Udyam is the registration system the Ministry of MSME created under notification S.O. 2119(E), in force from 1 July 2020. It replaced the older Entrepreneurs Memorandum (EM Part-II) and the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM). Every registered enterprise is called an "Udyam" and gets a permanent Udyam Registration Number plus an e-certificate, the Udyam/MSME certificate.

The registration is self-declared: you type in the facts, and the portal cross-checks them against Aadhaar, PAN, the income-tax database and GST. There is no inspection and no document upload. That speed is also why the law attaches a penalty to false declarations (see below).

"MSME registration" and "Udyam registration" mean the same thing today. Bank forms, tender documents and buyers' vendor forms that ask for an "MSME certificate" want your Udyam certificate.

Who can register: the 2026 MSME limits

Any enterprise engaged in manufacturing or services can register — a proprietorship, HUF, partnership, LLP, company, co-operative, society or trust. Classification uses a composite test of investment in plant and machinery (or equipment) and annual turnover. The limits below apply from 1 April 2025 under notification S.O. 1364(E):

MSME classification from 1 April 2025

Category	Investment in plant & machinery / equipment	Annual turnover
Micro	Up to ₹2.5 crore	Up to ₹10 crore
Small	Up to ₹25 crore	Up to ₹100 crore
Medium	Up to ₹125 crore	Up to ₹500 crore

Micro

Investment in plant & machinery / equipment

Up to ₹2.5 crore

Annual turnover

Up to ₹10 crore

Small

Investment in plant & machinery / equipment

Up to ₹25 crore

Annual turnover

Up to ₹100 crore

Medium

Investment in plant & machinery / equipment

Up to ₹125 crore

Annual turnover

Up to ₹500 crore

Four rules decide where you land:

• Cross either limit and you move up. A firm with ₹2 crore of machinery but ₹14 crore turnover is small, not micro.
• Exports are excluded from turnover. If your total sales are ₹16 crore and ₹7 crore of that is exports, your classification turnover is ₹9 crore — micro, provided investment is within ₹2.5 crore.
• Investment excludes land, building, furniture and fittings. It follows the written-down value in your ITR; a new business without an ITR self-declares the purchase price excluding GST.
• All GSTINs under one PAN count as one enterprise. A company with units in three states adds their turnover and investment together.

Worked example. Meera runs a garment unit in Tiruppur: machinery bought for ₹1.8 crore (WDV ₹1.4 crore in her last ITR), domestic sales of ₹6 crore and exports of ₹5 crore. Investment ₹1.4 crore ≤ ₹2.5 crore; turnover counted ₹6 crore ≤ ₹10 crore. She is a micro enterprise — under the pre-2025 limits (₹1 crore / ₹5 crore) she would have been small.

Traders and informal units

Retail and wholesale traders have been allowed on the Udyam portal since 2 July 2021, but the Ministry's office memorandum limits their benefit to priority-sector lending only; they do not get the delayed-payment protection. Informal micro units with no PAN or GST — street vendors, home-based workers — can instead get an Udyam Assist Certificate through a bank or NBFC on the SIDBI-run Udyam Assist Platform. The RBI treats that certificate at par with a Udyam certificate for priority-sector lending.

Documents and details for Udyam registration

You upload nothing, but you must have these details ready before you start, because the session times out if you go hunting for them.

Keep these ready before you open the portal

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• Aadhaar number of the proprietor (proprietorship), managing partner (partnership) or karta (HUF) — the mobile linked to Aadhaar must be with you for OTP
• For a company, LLP, co-operative, society or trust: the authorised signatory's Aadhaar plus the entity's PAN and GSTIN
• PAN of the business (an unregistered sole proprietor uses personal PAN)
• GSTIN — only if GST law requires you to register
• Bank account number and IFSC of the business
• Official address of the enterprise and of each plant or unit
• NIC 2008 code(s) for your main activity — you can add several activities in one registration
• Date of commencement, number of employees (male/female/other)
• Investment in plant & machinery and turnover for the last year (auto-filled from ITR/GST where available)
• Social category of the owner (General, SC, ST, OBC) and whether the unit is women-owned

Share Print

A business that already filed an ITR does not need to calculate anything by hand: once PAN is validated, the portal pulls the previous year's ITR and GST data. A new business with no ITR declares its own figures; that relaxation ends after 31 March of the year in which it files its first ITR.

How to do Udyam registration online, step by step

The whole process takes 15–20 minutes if your Aadhaar-linked mobile is with you.

Udyam registration — the portal flow

1. 1

   Open the official portal

   Go to udyamregistration.gov.in and click For New Entrepreneurs who are not Registered yet as MSME. If you hold an old Udyog Aadhaar, choose UAM Migration to Udyam instead.

   Tip: Check the address bar shows the .gov.in domain. Look-alike sites with 'udyam' in the name are private.

   Open the registration form
2. 2

   Verify Aadhaar with OTP

   Enter the Aadhaar number and the name exactly as on Aadhaar, tick the consent box and validate the OTP sent to the linked mobile.

3. 3

   Choose organisation type and verify PAN

   Select proprietorship, partnership, HUF, company, LLP, co-operative, society or trust. Enter PAN and validate — the portal fetches ITR and GSTIN details linked to it.

   Tip: If PAN validation fails, the name on PAN and Aadhaar usually doesn't match. Fix it with the Income Tax Department first.

4. 4

   Fill in enterprise details

   Enterprise name, units and their addresses, official address, date of incorporation and commencement, bank details, NIC activity codes, employees, and investment and turnover figures.

5. 5

   Select district and add-ons

   Pick the District Industries Centre and say whether you want to be onboarded to GeM (government e-marketplace) and TReDS (invoice discounting).

6. 6

   Submit with final OTP

   Review the declaration, click Submit & Get Final OTP, and enter it. The Udyam Registration Number appears on screen and an e-certificate is emailed and available under Print Udyam Certificate.

The certificate carries a Udyam Registration Number in the format UDYAM-XX-00-0000000. Note it down; you'll quote it on invoices, loan applications and vendor forms.

Fees, timelines and the fake-site problem

The Udyam notification states plainly that there is no fee for filing, and the portal's own banner warns users to beware of fake sites. Search results for "udyam registration" are crowded with paid sites that copy the government look and charge a fee to file the same free form on your behalf.

Timeline in practice: the number is generated as soon as the form is submitted. Classification may later be revised automatically when the portal reads your next ITR and GST returns.

Udyog Aadhaar migration to Udyam

Udyog Aadhaar (UAM) and EM-II registrations made before 30 June 2020 were valid only for a transition period, which was extended several times and finally lapsed in 2022. If you still hold only a UAM, banks and buyers will not treat you as an MSME.

To migrate: open the portal, choose UAM Migration to Udyam, enter the UAM number, verify by OTP on the mobile or email registered with UAM, then complete the same PAN and enterprise details as a new registrant. If the UAM was filed by an agent ("assisted filing"), use Assisted UAM Migration. You get a new Udyam number; the old UAM number is not carried over.

Updating, cancelling or recovering a Udyam registration

Updating. Use Update/Cancel Udyam Registration on the portal, log in with your Udyam number and OTP, and edit the address, units, bank account, NIC codes, employees or contact details. The notification requires enterprises to update ITR and GST return details for the previous year on the portal; failing to update within the period the portal specifies can lead to suspension of MSME status.

Graduation and reverse graduation. If your turnover or investment rises above your category's limit, you keep your existing status until one year after the close of the year of registration. If figures fall, you stay in your current category until the year ends and get the lower category from the next 1 April.

Cancelling. Closed the business or registered twice by mistake? The same Update/Cancel option lets you cancel with a reason. One enterprise may hold only one Udyam registration; add extra activities or units to it instead of filing again.

Forgot your number. Use Forgot Udyam/UAM No. and verify with the registered mobile or email.

Penalty for false details. Intentionally misstating facts in the registration or update process attracts the penalty in section 27 of the MSMED Act — a fine of up to ₹1,000 for a first conviction and up to ₹10,000 for later ones. Complaints are enquired into by the DIC General Manager, and a registration can be amended or cancelled.

Benefits of Udyam registration

• The 45-day payment rule. A buyer must pay a micro or small supplier within the agreed period, capped at 45 days, or within 15 days if there's no written agreement (MSMED Act s.15). Late payment carries compound interest with monthly rests at 3× the RBI bank rate (s.16).
• Buyers lose their tax deduction if they pay late. Section 43B(h) of the Income-tax Act 1961 allowed a buyer's deduction for dues to micro and small enterprises only when paid within the MSMED Act time limit. From tax year 2026-27 the same rule sits in section 37(2)(g) of the Income-tax Act 2025.
• Collateral-free loans. RBI rules bar banks from taking collateral on loans to micro and small enterprises up to ₹20 lakh, and MSME loans count as priority-sector lending.
• Dispute resolution. You can file delayed-payment cases with the state Micro and Small Enterprise Facilitation Council through the MSME Samadhaan portal.
• Market access. Registration links to GeM, TReDS invoice discounting and government procurement preferences for MSEs.

See what a late payment is worth to you:

Interest a late buyer owes you

Invoice Amount DueDays Delayed (beyond 45 days)RBI Bank Rate

Applicable Rate (3× bank rate)17.25%

CompoundingMonthly rests (Sec 16, MSMED Act)

Interest Payable₹14,478.32

Total Amount Recoverable₹5,14,478.32

Open the full MSME Delayed Payment Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

Recent changes: Udyam rules up to 2026

How Udyam rules have changed

1 Jul 2020

Udyam registration replaces UAM under S.O. 2119(E); limits ₹1 cr/₹5 cr for micro

5 Mar 2021

S.O. 1055(E): GSTIN only where GST law requires it; unregistered proprietors may use personal PAN

2 Jul 2021

Retail and wholesale traders allowed on Udyam — priority-sector lending benefit only

2022

Final lapse of Udyog Aadhaar validity; UAM holders must migrate

1 Apr 2025

Revised limits (S.O. 1364(E)): investment ×2.5 and turnover ×2 across all categories

1 Apr 2026

Income-tax Act 2025 in force; MSME payment disallowance continues as s.37(2)(g)

Aug 2026

Parliament passes the MSMED (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — faster mediation/arbitration, 50% payout on long-pending awards

The amendment is now law: the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Act, 2026 (No. 16 of 2026) received the President's assent on 13 August 2026. It requires central public sector enterprises to settle MSME invoices on TReDS, sets 90-day timelines for mediation and for arbitral awards, and says at least half of an awarded amount must be paid where a case has been pending over six months. The Act comes into force on dates the Central Government notifies, and different sections can start on different dates, so check the Ministry of MSME's notifications for each commencement date before relying on the new timelines.

Common Udyam registration mistakes

1. Registering each branch separately. One PAN = one Udyam. Add units inside the same registration.
2. Counting exports in turnover. That can push a micro exporter into "small" for no reason.
3. Using the wrong person's Aadhaar. For a partnership it must be the managing partner; for a company, the authorised signatory.
4. Picking a trading NIC code for a manufacturing unit. Trading codes get only the priority-sector lending benefit.
5. Never updating. Address changes, new units and bank changes should be updated; stale data can lead to suspension.
6. Paying a look-alike website. The government service costs nothing.

Official links

Official Udyam links

• Udyam Registration portalNew registration, print, verify, update/cancel, forgot number
• New registration form (Aadhaar verification)Start here if you have never registered
• Notification S.O. 1364(E) — 2025 limitsGazette text with principal 2020 notification
• RBI FAQs on MSMEsLending, collateral-free loans, delayed payments

What to do next

Once you have your Udyam number, print the certificate and put the number on your invoices — buyers need it to apply the 45-day rule. Our MSME certificate guide shows how to download, verify and update it. If you also need GST, follow the GST registration guide, and create compliant invoices with the free invoice generator. Chasing an overdue buyer? Work out the interest with the MSME delayed payment calculator.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Is Udyam registration free?

Yes. The government fee is Free — it is nil under the 2020 Udyam notification, and the portal itself warns that registration is free and paperless. Websites that charge a fee are private agents filing the same form for you. You can file yourself on udyamregistration.gov.in in about 15–20 minutes with Aadhaar and PAN.

What documents are required for Udyam registration?

Nothing is uploaded. You need the Aadhaar number of the proprietor, managing partner, karta or authorised signatory (with the mobile number linked to it), the PAN of the business, GSTIN if you are required to have one, bank account number and IFSC, your NIC activity code, and investment, turnover and employee figures. Data from ITR and GST returns is pulled in automatically.

Can I get Udyam registration without GST?

Yes, if GST law does not require you to register — for example a service business below ₹20 lakh turnover. A 2021 amendment says the GSTIN exemption follows the CGST Act. Companies, LLPs and other entities still need PAN; an unregistered sole proprietor can use their personal PAN.

How do I find my Udyam registration number if I forgot it?

Use the 'Forgot Udyam/UAM No.' option on the Udyam portal. You verify with the email ID or mobile number used during registration, and the portal shows or sends the number after OTP. If you no longer have access to either, contact the nearest District Industries Centre or MSME Champions control room.

Does Udyam registration expire or need renewal?

No. The Udyam Registration Number is permanent and there is no renewal. You must, however, keep the details current: the portal updates turnover and investment from your ITR and GST returns, and failure to update information within the time the portal specifies can lead to suspension of your status.

Should I migrate my old Udyog Aadhaar (UAM)?

Yes. Udyog Aadhaar registrations made before 30 June 2020 stopped being valid after the transition period ended in 2022. Use 'UAM Migration to Udyam' on the portal, enter your UAM number and Aadhaar OTP, and you receive a fresh Udyam number. Benefits now depend on a valid Udyam certificate.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 7 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Act, 2026 (No. 16 of 2026) — Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department), Gazette of India Extraordinary Part II Section 1, No. 32; posted by the Ministry of MSME · accessed 16 October 2026
2. 2.Notification S.O. 1364(E), 21 March 2025 — revised MSME classification (Gazette of India) — Ministry of MSME (Office of DC-MSME) · accessed 7 October 2026
3. 3.Notification S.O. 1055(E), 5 March 2021 — PAN and GSTIN amendment — Ministry of MSME · accessed 7 October 2026
4. 4.Udyam Registration portal — home page and notices — Ministry of MSME · accessed 7 October 2026
5. 5.Udyam Registration form (Aadhaar and PAN verification) — Ministry of MSME · accessed 7 October 2026
6. 6.Frequently Asked Questions — Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (July 2025) — Reserve Bank of India · accessed 7 October 2026
7. 7.MSMED Act 2006, section 27 — penalties — AdvocateKhoj (bare act) · accessed 7 October 2026
8. 8.Parliament passes MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — All India Radio News (Prasar Bharati) · accessed 7 October 2026
9. 9.Section 43B(h) and its move to section 37 of the Income-tax Act 2025 — TaxUpdate.in · accessed 7 October 2026