§1What this business is

Sesame seeds with a little jaggery go into a wood-press ghani driven by a 5 HP motor and are crushed slowly without outside heat; the oil is cooled, filtered and packed. One round takes 45 minutes, up to 10 rounds a shift, and oil comes out at 45–50% of the raw material. The sesame cake sells as feed.

Capacity: 300 kg of seed a day, 300 days (94,500 kg a year in the raw-material table); oil output 16,200 litres in year 1 rising to 23,400 litres in year 5.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

Someone in a sesame-growing area or with a loyal local customer base for traditional oils.

Who it is not for

Someone who cannot spend on branding and patient selling.

Advantages

  • Til oil has steady demand in the south and for winter cooking and massage
  • Small investment (₹12.39 L)
  • Sesame cake by-product adds income
  • Online sales of seed oils are growing, the report says

Drawbacks

  • Very thin profit in year 1 (₹0.99 L)
  • Sesame seed is costly and its price swings
  • Many small ghani brands compete

Skills you need

  • Seed cleaning and quality checks
  • Ghani operation and filtering
  • Brand building and retail selling
  • FSSAI labelling

Why difficulty 2/5: Easy to run; profit depends on seed price and premium sales.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Households, especially in South India
  • Ayurveda and massage users
  • Restaurants serving regional food

How it sells

  • Direct sales
  • Online retail
  • Supermarkets and specialty stores, including natural-food stores

Good to know

  • The report expected India's sesame oil industry to grow at 5% a year over 2017–2022.
  • It says online sales of seed oils such as sesame, argan and flaxseed are growing through social media.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Wood-press ghani machine1—
5 HP motor1—
Filter machine1—
Storage tank and other equipment1 lot—
All plant & machinery together1 lot₹6.80 lakh

From: PMEGP sample project report — Cold Pressed Sesame Oil Manufacturing Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Sesame seeds₹125 a kg in the raw-material table; ₹131.30 of raw material a litre of oil
  • Jaggeryadded to the seeds during crushing, as is traditional for gingelly oil
  • Bottles, labels and packingfor retail packs

From: PMEGP sample project report — Cold Pressed Sesame Oil Manufacturing Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

In our raw material database

Sesame (til) →

§5Licences & registration

  1. FSSAI licence
  2. Udyam
  3. GST
  4. Legal metrology registration for packed oil
  5. Trade licence

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMEGP (the report was made for it), PMFME (edible-oil processing) and MUDRA (within ₹20 L) fit; CGTMSE covers the guarantee.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Plant & machinery ₹6.80 L + furniture ₹1.15 L + working capital ₹4.44 L = ₹12.39 L. Shed of 1,500 sq ft own or rented, not costed. Finance: term loan ₹7.16 L, working capital loan ₹4.00 L, own ₹1.24 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹4.44 L in the cost (bank ₹4.00 L): 14 days of seed and 10 days of oil.

Year not printed on the 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

1515.50Sesame oil and its fractions2306.90Oil-cake and other solid residues of other oilseeds

Export council / board: IOPEPC

  • HS codes are from the WCO HS 2022 list; confirm the 8-digit ITC(HS) line with DGFT or your customs broker.
  • Edible-oil exports can face policy limits; check the current DGFT export policy.
  • You need an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT before the first shipment.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Seed price spikes
  • Low sales at premium prices
  • Adulteration complaints

§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 cold-pressed (wood ghani) sesame oil 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 (FSSAI licence, Udyam), 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 Cold-Pressed (Wood Ghani) Sesame Oil Unit?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Cold Pressed Sesame Oil Manufacturing Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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