How to Start a Biscuit Business in India

You can start a biscuit business in India in four ways, and the route you pick decides the money you need, the licence you hold and how soon you earn. Baking at home and selling packed biscuits under your own name needs an oven, a mixer, a sealing machine and registration with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which now covers businesses with a yearly turnover up to ₹1.5 crore. A small mechanised unit with six staff costs about ₹21 lakh in one project report on the Uttar Pradesh MSME portal. A 500 kg a day biscuit and rusk unit costs ₹60 lakh in a National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) sample project report. The other two routes are hiring a contract manufacturer to bake to your recipe and opening a franchise outlet. Profit comes slowly on every route: the ₹60 lakh unit earns ₹2.9 lakh in its first year on sales of ₹1.08 crore. Work out your cost per pack before you buy any machine.

Which biscuit business route suits your money and time?

Only home baking avoids factory spending, and each step up multiplies the capital needed.

To start a biscuit business from home, register with FSSAI first, bake in small batches and track how long each stays crisp in its final pack before you approach shops. A batch that softens within weeks has a packing or baking fault.

What does it cost to set up a biscuit unit?

Two government-linked project reports give anchors. Neither carries a date, so treat the totals as order of magnitude and replace them with current quotes.

The ghee bill stands out in the NCDC report: ₹55 lakh of a ₹73.2 lakh yearly raw material cost. Settle your fat and recipe before oven size, because that choice moves cost more than any machine does.

The Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) gave a margin-money subsidy of 15% to 35% on manufacturing projects up to ₹50 lakh, per a July 2022 Lok Sabha reply. The scheme ran to 31 March 2026, and news reports of an August 2026 Rajya Sabha reply say further subsidy release awaits approval of its continuation, so check the Khadi and Village Industries Commission portal first. Other support is listed under MSME schemes.

Which machines make biscuits, and what does each cost?

Functions follow write-ups by the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) for micro food units. Prices are lines from the NCDC report, which covers khari, rusk and atta biscuits, and they do not add exactly to its stated ₹40 lakh.

How are biscuits made, step by step?

The sequence follows NIFTEM's cumin biscuit write-up. Cookies change steps 3 and 4.

1. Store flour, sugar, fat and flavours, then sift the flour and grind the sugar.
2. Mix the ingredients into dough.
3. Feed the dough to sheeters, which thin it over several passes, and cut shapes with a rotary cutter. For cookies, a depositor drops batter onto lined trays instead.
4. Bake. NIFTEM's chocolate chip cookie write-up uses 180 °C for 25 minutes; every other product needs its own trials.
5. For savoury biscuits, spray oil and sprinkle salt after baking.
6. Cool on a conveyor and stack.
7. Pack in pouches or packets.

Is a biscuit business profitable, and what should you charge?

The NCDC report shows a thin first year and a better sixth, and the gap comes from how full the ovens are. It puts payback at about five years after a build period of six to nine months.

Price from the bottom up: add ingredients, packing, labour, power and a share of rent for one pack, add your margin, then compare the result with big-brand packs of the same weight. If your cost alone is above their shelf price, change the product rather than the machine. Since 22 September 2025 biscuits carry 5% GST instead of 18%, after the GST Council's 56th meeting, which lowers shelf prices for every brand.

Which FSSAI licence does a biscuit maker need after April 2026?

FSSAI changed its turnover tiers from 1 April 2026, and many guides still quote the old ₹12 lakh registration limit.

Licences and registrations issued from that date stay valid until suspended, cancelled or surrendered, so there is no renewal date to track. Confirm your tier on FoSCoS, FSSAI's licensing portal, with your product and daily capacity before you order machines.

Where can a new brand sell, and against whom?

A new brand meets Britannia and Parle on every shelf, so it needs a reason to be picked: a different grain, a local taste or fresher stock. IMARC's India biscuit report lists wheat, oats and millets as the main ingredient segments. Start with bakeries and shops near your unit, where fresh stock and small orders suit you, and add online sales once packing holds up. Rusk and cake lines share ovens, as the bakery business guide explains. For grain-led lines, read the oats manufacturing and millet processing guides.

What to do before you buy a machine

1. Pick a route from the first table and write down the weekly volume you can sell.
2. Bake three recipes in small batches and test shelf life in the actual pack.
3. Work out cost per pack and compare it with big-brand packs of the same weight.
4. Apply for FSSAI registration on FoSCoS and check which tier your product and capacity fall under.
5. Put the numbers into a project report, since banks lend against one. The detailed project report guide explains what lenders look for, and the food processing ideas hub lists related units.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a licence to sell home-baked biscuits?

Yes. Packed biscuits sold to the public need at least an FSSAI registration, which covers businesses with turnover up to ₹1.5 crore from 1 April 2026. NIFTEM's write-ups say registration is done online through FoSCoS.

How long do biscuits stay fresh?

Packed biscuits typically keep six months or more when moisture stays below 4%, according to NIFTEM's write-ups. Your shelf life depends on baking, cooling and packing, so test each recipe in its final pack.

Which is the biggest biscuit company in India?

Britannia. An Agron Food Processing report of January 2026 calls it the country's largest biscuit player, with FY25 (April 2024 to March 2025) revenue of ₹17,942.67 crore. Parle reported ₹15,568.49 crore. Both cover all products, not biscuits alone.

Is a biscuit franchise easier than making biscuits?

A franchise is easier to start because you sell rather than bake, but your margin and stock follow the franchisor's terms. Ask for audited figures from outlets already running, and read the exit terms before paying any deposit.