Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Mizoram

Pick the right route first

• New unit setting up in Mizoram: the State Incentive Subsidy is the main route. It reimburses spending after the unit starts commercial operation.
• Already operating micro or small enterprise: look at procurement preference registration if you sell to state government departments.
• Idea-stage founders: the department's own pages describe no incubator or startup fund. Mizoram Bana Kaih is the scheme text that mentions startups, and it picks participants through department search teams rather than an open call.

How applications work

• Incentive subsidy: this is a claim, not an open call. Fill the prescribed claim form and submit it to the District Commerce & Industries Office within the stated time. The district office verifies it and forwards it to the Director of Commerce and Industries. A State Level Committee scrutinises and approves it, then the amount is paid into the unit's bank account.
• Procurement preference: submit the prescribed application form to the District Commerce & Industries Office with the registration fee paid at the Treasury. The district officer inspects the unit and issues a Registration Certificate.
• General enquiries: the Director's mailbox on the department's contact page is dirind-mz@gov.in.

Before you spend money

• Get Udyam Registration and the state registration (or RAMP verification) first. Without them the general conditions are not met.
• Several subsidies need government approval of the plan and estimate before you build. Land development and factory building are in this group. Training and trade fair support also need prior approval.
• Keep a separate power or water connection for the unit where those subsidies apply, and keep bills and payment records for every claim.
• Machinery subsidies cover new plant and machinery only.
• Note the claim window for each subsidy; it is generally within a year, and each subsidy has its own.

What to expect

• Subsidies are paid after commercial operation starts, not in advance.
• A recipient must undertake to keep the unit running for five years after receiving a subsidy, or refund it.
• Keep at least half of your workforce Mizoram citizens (70 percent local people for procurement preference).
• Where the policy and the guidelines differ, ask the district office which one it applies today.

The Commerce & Industries Department is the Government of Mizoram body for industrial development and commerce in the state. It was set up in 2016 by merging the Industries Department with the Trade & Commerce Department, and its Directorate is in Khatla, with offices in every district. For a founder, it is the route to the state's reimbursement subsidies for new micro, small and medium enterprises, to registration under the state's procurement preference policy, and to schemes hosted on the department's website such as Mizoram Bana Kaih.

How the department's support works

Most of what the department offers comes from two state policies. The Industrial and Investment Policy of Mizoram, 2025 was notified by the Governor on 21 August 2025 with immediate effect. The Mizoram Procurement Preference Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises, 2025 was notified in February 2025. The policies set out what is on offer; separate documents explain how to claim it. The guidelines for implementing the Mizoram State Incentive Subsidy were notified on 12 August 2026 and stay in force for five years unless extended.

None of this works like a grant call with an opening and closing date. The incentive subsidies are reimbursements: a unit spends the money first, then claims part of it back. Procurement preference is a registration that is open to eligible units and lasts for a fixed period. There is no single application deadline for the policy itself, but each subsidy has its own claim window, usually within a year.

The department's website names itself the Commerce & Industries Department. The August 2026 guidelines style it the Commerce, Industries, Geology & Mining Department. Both names refer to the same office.

Who can apply

The incentive subsidies are for new micro, small and medium enterprises located in Mizoram. The general conditions in the guidelines are:

A new enterprise located in the state. Udyam Registration plus state registration under the formalisation scheme, or verification under RAMP. At least half of the people employed are bona fide citizens of Mizoram. GST returns are filed. The business is not on the negative list, which covers tobacco, thin non-biodegradable plastic, and liquor other than wine and beer.

Each subsidy adds its own conditions. Some need a separate power or water connection, some need government approval of the plan and estimate before work starts, and training and trade fairs need prior approval. Machinery subsidies cover new plant and machinery only. Non-indigenous entrepreneurs receive the benefits mainly inside designated investment zones.

The Mizoram State Incentive Subsidy

The guidelines cover eleven kinds of reimbursement: land development, factory building, interest on a term loan, water, power, power lines and transformers, a captive power generating set, transport of plant and machinery, skilling and re-skilling, IT and ITES office rent and cloud hosting, and stall rent at trade fairs. Subsidies are paid only after commercial operation starts.

The policy also lists SGST reimbursement for manufacturers, support for effluent treatment, support for solid waste management and plastic recycling, and a capital subsidy for pollution control devices. The guidelines published so far do not describe how to claim these four, so a founder should ask the district office before planning around them.

Some conditions differ between the policy and the guidelines. The policy says the interest subsidy is for a new MSME unit, while the guidelines name new micro and small enterprises only. For land development and factory building, the policy speaks of a new unit set up in a notified industrial area, while the guidelines also allow existing units that moved into an industrial area from outside one. The department's pages give different ceilings for the captive power set subsidy and describe the power subsidy differently in the policy and in the guidelines. Check the current figure with the district office before relying on either.

Procurement preference for micro and small enterprises

Micro and small enterprises in Mizoram that hold Udyam Registration and employ at least 70 percent local people can register under the procurement preference policy. Registered enterprises get a price preference and reduced earnest money in state purchasing, and the state sets a minimum share of its annual purchases for Mizoram micro and small enterprises. The policy does not apply to externally aided projects. Registration is valid for five years.

The department's own documents describe tender fees and earnest money differently. The investment policy says registered enterprises are exempt from both. The procurement policy itself speaks of a reduction of half on the specified rate for earnest money and tender documents. The two also describe the 12 percent price preference against different comparison bids: the lowest out-of-state bid in one, and the lowest bidder where that bidder is not a registered enterprise in the other.

Other schemes on the department's site

The investment policy names the AMEn Scheme (Accelerating Micro Enterprises), under which trained community facilitators called Bankaitu would help aspiring micro-entrepreneurs with documentation, registration, financing, licensing and mentoring, backed by credit guarantee cover. Only the policy clause has been published; operating guidelines and an intake were not found on the site.

Mizoram Bana Kaih (Handholding) Scheme, 2024 is hosted and linked from the department's site. Its nodal department is Planning & Programme Implementation. UNNATI 2024, the central scheme for industrial development in the North East, is also listed there. Its registration window has ended. Both are described under the programmes on this page.

Industrial areas

The 2025 policy annexure lists seven declared industrial areas: Zuangtui, Luangmual, Lengte, Sairang, Pukpui, Zote and Lawngtlai. Land and building subsidies apply to units inside a notified industrial area, so a unit's location decides which subsidies it can claim.

Who runs it and where

The department is part of the Government of Mizoram. The Directorate is at Khatla, near Royale Lalawi Hotel, postcode 796001. The contact page lists the Director's mailbox, and district offices handle claims and registrations locally. The district offices were earlier called District Industries Centres and are now called District Commerce & Industries Offices.