§1What this business is
You bake bread, cookies, biscuits and rusk from maida/atta, sugar and oil in an oven. Sales are through kirana shops, tea stalls, school canteens and your own counter shop. Fresh goods and local taste set you apart from big brands.
Capacity: Bread 2,32,800 kg a year; cookies 1,16,400 kg a year (NIFTEM).
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone who can run an early-morning distribution route or open their own bakery counter.
Who it is not for
Someone who cannot handle night and early-morning shifts and daily deliveries.
Advantages
- Daily product — fast cash flow
- Freshness gives a local advantage
- Long product line (rusk, cake, khari, cookies)
- Good margin on counter sales
Drawbacks
- Bread has a shelf life of 3–4 days — losses from returns
- Electricity/gas cost
- Strict hygiene and FSSAI checks
- Competition from big brands' distribution
Skills you need
- Baking (recipe, temperature)
- Hygiene
- Route distribution
- Stock rotation (keeping returns low)
Why difficulty 2/5: The recipe is easy to learn; daily delivery and handling returns take hard work.
§3Market
Who buys
- Households buying daily bread, buns and biscuits
- Tea stalls, canteens and small hotels
- Shops that sell bakery items in loose or packed form
How it sells
- Convenience stores and kirana shops
- Specialist bakery shops
- Supermarkets and hypermarkets
- Online retail
Good to know
- Unorganised bakeries hold about 55% of India's bread market (NIFTEM DPR, 2021).
- Demand is moving to multigrain, high-fibre and fortified bread.
- Machinery in the DPRs: bread unit ₹13.60 lakh, cookies unit ₹11.35 lakh, both without GST and transport.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Dough kneading machine (25 kg) | 4 | ₹2.40 lakh |
| Mixer machine (50 kg) | 2 | ₹4.00 lakh |
| Bread moulding frames | 100 | ₹45,000 |
| Leavening (proofing) unit, 12 trays | 3 | ₹1.26 lakh |
| Baking oven (36 trays) | 1 | ₹5.00 lakh |
| Bread slicing machine (36 slices) | 1 | ₹48,000 |
| Impulse sealer (50 pouches per hour) | 1 | ₹1,499 |
| Planetary mixer for cookies (30 kg bowl) | 2 | ₹1.70 lakh |
| Baking oven for cookies (40–50 kg/hour) | 1 | ₹5.00 lakh |
| Cookie dropping machine (40–50 kg/hour) | 1 | ₹3.90 lakh |
| Sugar grinder (100 kg/hour) | 1 | ₹75,000 |
| Biscuit unit: planetary mixer, rotary oven and biscuit depositor (plant and machinery total) | — | ₹12.50 lakh |
From: NIFTEM-K (MoFPI) PMFME Detailed Project Report – Bread Making Unit (2021) · NIFTEM-K (MoFPI) PMFME Detailed Project Report – Cookies Making Unit (2021) · UP MSME 1-Connect (Govt of UP, RAMP) – Project Report: Biscuit Making Unit (2024)
- Wheat flour (maida)₹30–40 per kg
- Sugar₹35–42 per kg
- Edible oil or bakery shortening₹100–150 per litre
- Flavours₹100–300 per litre
- Gluten powder, bread improver, yeast and saltfor bread; yeast is about 2% of the dough
- Glucose and milkfor biscuits; average raw material cost ₹65–70 per kg of biscuits
From: UP MSME 1-Connect (Govt of UP, RAMP) – Project Report: Biscuit Making Unit (2024) · NIFTEM-K (MoFPI) PMFME Detailed Project Report – Bread Making Unit (2021)
Suppliers in Building Business Bazaar
NIFTEM Kundli (National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management) · Kundli →NIFTEM Thanjavur (National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management) · Thanjavur →CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru · Mysuru →Ambica Packers and Printers · Delhi →Aroras Box and Cartons Pvt Ltd · Gurugram →Gemini Engineers · Hyderabad →Jain Packaging Products · Delhi →R.D. Singal and Co · Delhi →Rajat Electronics · Delhi →United Packaging · Delhi →State Food Laboratory, Port Blair · Port Blair →State Food Laboratory, Hyderabad · Hyderabad →
§5Licences & registration
- FSSAI licence
- Udyam
- GST
- Fire NOC (oven/gas)
- Legal Metrology labelling
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMFMECentralUnclear35% subsidy, up to ₹10 lakh
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- MudraCentralActiveLoan up to ₹20 lakh, no collateral
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
- Stand-Up IndiaCentralClosed₹10 lakh – ₹1 crore loan
The PMFME DPRs are for bakery itself; PMEGP/MUDRA/CGTMSE fit; Stand-Up India for SC/ST/women.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Min = NIFTEM PMFME bread-making DPR ₹18.69 L (machinery ₹13.60 L, misc ₹1.20 L, WC ₹3.89 L; premises rented). Max = UP biscuit-making unit cost of project ₹21.22 L (own ₹2.12 L, term loan ₹12.60 L, WC ₹6.50 L). NIFTEM cookies DPR: ₹16.79 L.
Working capital: Bread sells every day, so WC is low (₹3.5–4 L CC).
NIFTEM 2021; UP 2024.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: APEDA
- Bakery products fall under APEDA's Processed Foods group.
- Packed biscuits and cookies travel well; fresh bread is a local product.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Product returns/expiry
- Raw material price (maida, sugar, oil)
- Food safety
- Distribution competition
§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan
A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.
- Days 1–30: Visit a working bakery (bread / biscuit / cookies) unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (FSSAI licence, Udyam), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
- Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.
§11Who to connect with
Associations, clusters and training institutes — the directory is being built. Connect
§12Watch
There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.
Want to start Bakery (Bread / Biscuit / Cookies)?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
- NIFTEM-K (MoFPI) PMFME Detailed Project Report – Bread Making Unit (2021)
- UP MSME 1-Connect (Govt of UP, RAMP) – Project Report: Biscuit Making Unit (2024)
- NIFTEM-K (MoFPI) PMFME Detailed Project Report – Cookies Making Unit (2021)
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.