How to Get an Import Export Code in India — The Real Process

My sister makes and sells handwoven textiles, and when a buyer from Germany expressed interest in placing a regular order, we suddenly needed to figure out export compliance. The first thing anyone mentioned was the Import Export Code. Within a week I had applied for it. The process was genuinely straightforward — much simpler than I had feared — but there were a few things I had to figure out along the way that nobody explained upfront.

What an IEC actually is

The Import Export Code is a ten-digit number issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce. It is essentially your business identity number for all international trade. Without it, customs will not allow commercial import or export shipments to move. Every shipping bill, every bill of entry, every foreign bank transaction related to trade carries this number.

The important thing to understand is that it is a one-time registration. Unlike most business licenses, the IEC does not expire and does not need annual renewal. You apply once, get the number, and use it indefinitely — unless your business details change, in which case you update it through an amendment application.

What we needed to apply

For my sister's proprietorship, the requirements were minimal compared to what I had expected.

• Her PAN Card — this is the anchor of the entire application
• Aadhaar Card for identity verification
• A cancelled cheque from her current bank account, to link the IEC to a specific bank
• A passport-size photograph
• Basic details about the business: name, address, nature of goods exported

The DGFT portal process

The entire application is on the DGFT portal at dgft.gov.in. You register as a new user, log in, and find the IEC application under the services menu. For a proprietorship, there is no digital signature required — that is only needed for companies and LLPs. You fill in the business details, upload the documents, and pay a government fee of Rs. 500 online.

After submission, we received an acknowledgement number. Within two working days, an email arrived saying the IEC had been issued. I logged in, downloaded the certificate, and that was it. The whole process from sitting down at the portal to having the certificate took about two hours of actual effort spread across two days.

A few things that confused us

The IEC application asks for a branch code. For a single-location business, this defaults to zero and you do not need to overthink it. The application also asks for the nature of goods or services being exported using an ITCHS code — a customs classification code. For handicrafts we used a general code, but if you export something very specific, look up the correct ITCHS code on the customs website before filling the form.

We also briefly confused the IEC with export promotion council registration, which is separate. The IEC is the basic mandatory registration. Export promotion councils — like EPCH for handicrafts — are membership bodies that give additional marketing support and benefits. Both are useful, but the IEC comes first and is required regardless of whether you join a promotion council.

What changed after we got the IEC

The German buyer's purchase order asked for the IEC number on the invoice. The bank that processes the foreign currency payment needed the IEC on record. The customs clearance agent who handles the shipping documentation also asked for it as the first thing. In short, the IEC is not a one-time-use document — it shows up in almost every step of every export transaction.

For my sister's business, having the IEC shifted her from being a domestic artisan to being a formal exporter. She can now receive foreign currency in her business account, export with proper documentation, and eventually apply for benefits under schemes like RoDTEP that reimburse certain export taxes. Getting the IEC was the single step that opened all of that up.