Renew your factory licence in Tamil Nadu
Who this applies to
- You hold a factory licence issued in Tamil Nadu and it is about to expire, or the period printed on it has ended.
- You are the occupier or manager named on the licence. If either has changed since the licence issued, you have an amendment to file first, not a renewal.
- Your registered capacity, connected load and manufacturing process have not changed. If they have, a renewal alone will not cover you.
What the renewal actually is
A Tamil Nadu factory licence is issued for a fixed term and lapses on its expiry date whether or not anyone reminds you. Renewal is a fresh application in Form No. 2, filed online through the Single Window Portal or the DISH portal. Form No. 4 is the licence that comes back; it is not the form you file (Tamil Nadu Factories Rules 1950, rules 4(2) and 7(2), as amended in 2017).
Where the law stands. The Factories Act, 1948 was repealed when the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025. A licence granted before then counts as a licence under the Code only for the period it was issued for (OSH Code, s.119(5)), so when that period ends it has to be renewed. The Tamil Nadu Factories Rules, 1950 stay in force so far as they are not contrary to the Code (s.143(3)), and DISH's published renewal procedure still runs on them. That is the route this page describes. The wider transition is covered in OSH Code transition in Tamil Nadu: what factories need to know.
The fee depends on two figures together: the horse power installed and the maximum number of people employed on any day in the year. DISH's procedure applies the schedule in G.O. Ms. No. 132, Labour and Employment (M2), 28 September 2018. The amounts are not repeated here, but both figures must match what you are about to declare.
Renewal is an administrative filing, not an inspection. DISH verifies the application and confirms the fee before the licence issues. Even so, an open item from the last inspection can surface at renewal, so it pays to close it first.
What it costs to get wrong
Operating after the printed expiry, without a renewal application made in time, is using premises without a current licence, and section 119(5) does not extend that date. The rules do give you cover while an in-time application with the fee paid is pending: the factory is treated as licensed until DISH decides (rule 7(4)). Because that is a saved rule, get DISH's confirmation in writing if you are relying on it, and remember that a refused renewal is no authority to operate. This page does not state a fine or a term of imprisonment.
The practical cost is that a lapsed licence stalls the next inspection and it is a document lenders, insurers and customers ask to see.
What you file, and when
| Obligation | What governs it | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Factory plan approval, only if you are also constructing, extending or bringing a new building into use | Tamil Nadu Factories Rules 1950, rule 3, read with OSH Code, s.79 and s.143(3) | DISH |
| Renewal of the factory licence | Form No. 2 application, with Form No. 4 issued as the licence; OSH Code, s.119(5) for a pre-commencement licence | DISH |
File before the licence expires. The rule asks for the renewal application at least two months before expiry (Tamil Nadu Factories Rules 1950, rule 7(2)). DISH's procedure does not publish a processing time for renewal, and none is stated here.
The process
Confirm what is on the licence today
Pull the current licence and check the occupier, the manager, the registered worker count and the installed power against what is actually on site. Renewing against stale particulars is one of the commonest reasons a file comes back for correction. If the occupier or manager has changed, file the amendment first.
Clear anything the Inspectorate is still holding
An open non-conformance from the last inspection, an unfiled annual return or an expired stability certificate can each hold up the renewal. Close them before you file, not after.
Work out the fee for your slab
Find your slab in the G.O. Ms. No. 132 schedule using today's installed horse power and the highest number of people you employ on any day in the year, not the figures declared at the last renewal.
File the application inside the window
Submit Form No. 2 online with the fee and the supporting documents. DISH's renewal procedure asks for the document that gives you occupation of the premises in every case. It asks for proof of identity and address of a new occupier or manager, the memorandum and articles or the partnership deed, the list of directors and the machinery list with horse power only where those details have changed, and the list of partners where there is a partnership.
Keep the acknowledgement. It shows that you applied in time, but it is not the renewed licence and is no authority to operate if the renewal is refused.
Follow it through to issue
Track the application on the portal until the renewed licence is available to download, then check that every particular on it is correct.
Renewal is not the annual return
Renewal continues your authority to use the premises as a factory on the particulars shown on the licence. The annual return reports a year's employment and operating information. Filing one does not do the other. The legacy combined return was Form 22, and whether DISH still takes that form after 21 November 2025 is not settled on this page, so use the route DISH accepts and see factory returns.
A change of name within the same legal person is not always a transfer of the licence, but a merger, a sale of the undertaking or a change in who has ultimate control of the premises can be. Do not backdate an occupier change.
Older DISH material also describes extra consequences for a late application. They are not restated here as the current rule.
Where these go wrong
- Nobody owns the expiry date. The licence sits in a file, the person who last renewed it has left, and the date passes unnoticed.
- Renewing after a change of occupier. A change in the named occupier needs its own filing. Renewing over the top of it leaves the licence in the wrong name.
- Fee worked out on the old slab. Headcount or horse power has grown, the fee is short, and the window closes while the file is corrected.
- Treating the acknowledgement as the licence. It is evidence that you applied, not authority to operate if the renewal is refused.
Licence expiring, or already expired?
Send us the licence and the last inspection report. We will tell you what has to be cleared before you file, and take the file through to issue.