A small press in Barasat prints wedding cards. In November it delivers two thousand calendars to a big company in Sector V. In February it is still waiting to be paid.
The owner has never heard of Udyam. If he had registered, the company would have had a legal deadline to pay him, and a reason in its own tax bill to keep it.
Udyam registration is the Government of India’s registration for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), under the MSMED Act, 2006. It replaced the old Udyog Aadhaar in July 2020. Registering gives you a permanent Udyam Registration Number and an e-certificate, and that certificate is what banks, government buyers and schemes ask for when they say “MSME”.
Who counts as micro, small or medium
Both manufacturers and service businesses can register. The category depends on two numbers: investment in plant, machinery or equipment, and annual turnover. The limits were raised from 1 April 2025:
| Category | Investment up to | Turnover up to |
|---|---|---|
| Micro | ₹2.5 crore | ₹10 crore |
| Small | ₹25 crore | ₹100 crore |
| Medium | ₹125 crore | ₹500 crore |
In practice almost every shop, home kitchen, tailoring unit, repair workshop and coaching centre in West Bengal is a micro enterprise.
What it actually gets you
- Paid on time. Under the MSMED Act, a buyer must pay a registered micro or small supplier within the agreed period, and never later than 45 days. Late payment carries compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate, and you can file a complaint on the MSME Samadhaan portal. From the 2023-24 financial year, income-tax rules also stop a buyer from deducting an overdue payment to a micro or small supplier until it is actually paid.
- Bank loans. Lending to MSMEs counts towards banks’ priority-sector targets, and lenders, especially under credit-guarantee schemes, often ask for the Udyam certificate.
- Government tenders. Many central purchases reserve a share for micro and small enterprises and waive earnest money for them.
- State schemes. West Bengal’s MSME schemes and the Silpasathi single window recognise the Udyam number.
How to register, step by step
Open the official portal, and only that one
Go to udyamregistration.gov.in and choose “For New Entrepreneurs who are not Registered yet as MSME”. The portal itself warns that no other site or app is official.
Verify your Aadhaar
Enter the Aadhaar number of the proprietor (or the managing partner, or the director for a company) and confirm it with the OTP sent to the mobile number linked to that Aadhaar.
Add your PAN
PAN is required. Your investment and turnover figures are pulled automatically from income-tax and GST records, so you do not type them in or upload proof.
Fill in the business details
Name of the enterprise, address, bank account, what you make or what service you provide, number of employees, and date you started.
Submit and download
After the final OTP you get your Udyam Registration Number. The e-certificate follows by email and can be printed from the portal. There is nothing to pay at any step.
Questions people ask
Is Udyam registration really free?
Yes. The official portal states that registration is “totally free” and that no fee is to be paid to anyone. Sites that charge for it are private, however official they look.
Do I need GST to register?
Only if your business is already required to have GST. Many micro enterprises are not, and can register with Aadhaar and PAN alone.
Does it have to be renewed?
No. The Udyam number is permanent. Your category is updated from your tax and GST records, so keep those filed.
I have an old Udyog Aadhaar (UAM). Is it still valid?
Move it to Udyam. The portal has a separate option for existing Udyog Aadhaar holders.