Factories Act, 1948 · Chapter I: Preliminary
Section 4: Power to declare different departments to be separate factories or two or more factories to be a single factory
The Factories Act, 1948 was repealed and replaced by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.
The State Government may, [on its own or] on an application made in this behalf by an occupier, direct, by an order in writing [and subject to such conditions as it may deem fit that for all or any of the purposes of this Act different departments or branches of a factory of the occupier specified in the application shall be treated as separate factories or that two or more factories of the occupier specified in the application shall be treated as a single factory:] [Provided that no order under this section shall be made by the State Government on its own motion unless an opportunity of being heard is given to the occupier.]
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.