§1What this business is

The unit buys barrels, caps, refill tubes, ball tips and ink, fills refills on a refill filling machine, fixes tips on a nib assembling machine, spins out air in a centrifuge and assembles pens. The report plans 15,000 pens a day in batches of 100. Pens are a commodity, so price decides sales.

Capacity: 15,000 pens a day (150 batches of 100), 45,000 batches a year; the plan starts at 45%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

Someone in stationery distribution or promotional gifting.

Who it is not for

Someone hoping to beat national brands on their own ground.

Advantages

  • Huge everyday demand from students and offices
  • Assembly needs modest machines
  • Custom printed pens for promotions
  • Parts are easy to buy

Drawbacks

  • Big brands lead the market
  • Price is the main reason people buy
  • Low margin per pen
  • Ink quality complaints hurt fast

Skills you need

  • Refill filling and tip fitting
  • Ink flow quality checks
  • Stationery and corporate sales
  • Parts buying

Why difficulty 2/5: Simple assembly; selling against brands at a thin price is the challenge.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Students and schools
  • Offices and banks
  • Companies ordering promotional pens

How it sells

  • Stationery wholesalers and retailers
  • Corporate gifting orders
  • Government and institutional supply

Good to know

  • The report puts the Indian writing-instrument market at 1,600–2,400 million pieces a year, worth about ₹22 billion, growing 8–10% a year.
  • It names Cello, Lexi, Reynolds, Luxor and Flair as major players and says price is the key differentiator.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Refill filling machine1₹3,50,000
Nib assembling machine1₹2,00,000
Pen centrifuge1₹30,000
Other hand tools1 lot₹20,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Pen mfg. (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Ball pen ink and ball tipscore of the refill
  • Refill tubesplastic tube
  • Barrels, caps, front and back coversbought moulded parts
  • Packing materialparts and packing cost ₹120–150 per batch of 100 pens

From: PMEGP sample project report — Pen mfg. (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. Legal Metrology packaged-commodity registration (for packed goods)
  4. Trademark for your brand name (optional)

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMEGP (the report was made for it), MUDRA for loans up to ₹20 lakh (the report's term loan is ₹9.00 lakh), CGTMSE for a collateral-free loan, Stand-Up India for SC/ST or women founders.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Sample report: shed 1,000 sq ft ₹3.00 L + plant & machinery ₹6.00 L + furniture ₹1.00 L + working capital ₹5.00 L = ₹15.00 L. Term loan ₹9.00 L, own ₹1.50 L, working-capital loan ₹4.50 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹5.00 lakh (bank ₹4.50 lakh); parts cost ₹120–150 per batch of 100 pens.

Year not printed on the sample report — check current machinery prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export

9608.10Ball point pens

Export council / board: PLEXCONCIL (The Plastics Export Promotion Council)

  • HS heading from the ITC(HS) 2022 schedule; confirm the 8-digit line with DGFT or your customs broker.
  • You need an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT before the first shipment.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Price war
  • Leaking or skipping refills
  • Part supply delays
  • Unsold stock of old designs

§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan

A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.

  1. Days 1–30: Visit a working ball pen making unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
  2. Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam registration, GST registration), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
  3. Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.

§11Who to connect with

Not verified yet

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 Ball Pen Making?

DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Pen mfg. (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.