§1What this business is

Black rice (such as Manipur's Chak-Hao or Tamil Nadu's Kavuni) is weighed, ground and cooked in a steam-jacketed kettle with an agitator, cooled on a conveyor and packed in pouches, cans and boxes. The DPR assumes black rice at ₹150 a kg, 1 kg of halwa from 400 g of rice, and a sale price of ₹400 a kg.

Capacity: 36 tonnes of black rice halwa a year in the summary, 300 working days of 8–10 hours, at 60%, 70% and then 80% use. (One table in the DPR prints 120 MT a year; we use the summary figure.)

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A sweet maker or SHG in Manipur, Assam, Tamil Nadu or another black-rice area.

Who it is not for

Someone expecting quick returns — the DPR shows a 4-year payback.

Advantages

  • A traditional sweet with a health story (black rice is rich in antioxidants)
  • Black rice with a GI tag gives the product a regional identity
  • Packed halwa travels to cities and gift markets

Drawbacks

  • Profit in the DPR is low for the first three years
  • Black rice costs ₹150 a kg, far more than white rice
  • Break-even needs more than half the capacity sold
  • Sweets have a limited shelf life

Skills you need

  • Cooking halwa to a steady texture in a kettle
  • Food hygiene and shelf-life control
  • Pouch and can sealing
  • Branding a regional sweet

Why difficulty 3/5: Easy cooking process, but thin profit and a niche product to sell.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Sweet shops and bakeries
  • Supermarkets and gift-pack buyers
  • Tourists and online buyers of regional foods

How it sells

  • Own counter and local sweet shops
  • Distributors to city retailers
  • Online marketplaces

Good to know

  • The DPR assumes a sale price of ₹400 a kg.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Weighing scale1₹0.50 lakh
Grinder1₹3.00 lakh
Steam-jacketed kettle1₹4.00 lakh
Agitator1₹2.00 lakh
Pouch packing machine1₹2.50 lakh
Can sealing machine1₹2.00 lakh
Cooling conveyor1₹2.00 lakh
Box filling machine1₹2.00 lakh

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Black Rice Halwa

  • Black ricecosted at ₹150 a kg; 400 g gives 1 kg of halwa
  • Packing materialpouches, cans and boxes

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Black Rice Halwa

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. FSSAI licence or registration
  4. Legal Metrology registration for packaged goods
  5. Trade licence from the local body

We can do this registration for you

Start it in your state

Pick your state: today’s cost, central + state subsidy, raw material, land and help, on one page.

§6Schemes & subsidies

The DPR is written for PMFME (35% credit-linked subsidy, up to ₹10 lakh, for micro food units). PMEGP is another route for a new unit of this size, and CGTMSE can back the bank loan without collateral.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Land and building ₹5.00 L (1,000 sq ft built at ₹500 a sq ft) + machinery ₹18.00 L + utilities and fittings ₹2.00 L + miscellaneous fixed assets ₹2.00 L + pre-operative ₹0.50 L + contingencies ₹2.00 L + working capital margin ₹4.29 L = ₹33.80 lakh (rounded off in the DPR).

Working capital: Working capital gap ₹17.15 L in Year 1, ₹20.80 L in Year 2 and ₹23.67 L in Year 3; the 25% margin of ₹4.29 L is in the project cost.

Year not printed on the DPR; it quotes 2024 and 2025 market data, so it is recent — still check current machinery prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Export council / board: APEDA

  • The DPR gives no export costing; an exporter needs an IEC and registration with the export body before shipping.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Spoilage before sale
  • Black rice supply running short
  • Buyers not paying ₹400 a kg
  • Sales concentrated in the festival season

§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 black rice halwa unit 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

§12Watch

There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.

Want to start Black Rice Halwa Unit?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Black Rice Halwa

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