§1What this business is
Fabric is received and relaxed, prepared, dyed in paddle, drum or jet machines with reactive, direct, sulphur, vat, pigment, acid or disperse dyes, fixed, washed and dried in a centrifuge, and finished. Customers are dupatta and garment makers and cloth traders who want colours to match fashion and orders. The report plans 800 metres a day.
Capacity: 800 metres a day (10-hour shift); 65% use in year 1.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone in a textile or dupatta cluster with garment-maker and trader contacts.
Who it is not for
Someone in an area without water or a common effluent treatment plant.
Advantages
- Steady job work from dupatta and garment makers
- Small machinery cost (₹11.40 L)
- Low power load (5 kW)
- Garment dyeing lets buyers follow fashion colours quickly
Drawbacks
- Dyeing effluent is closely watched by pollution boards
- Needs a lot of water
- Colour-matching complaints and rejects
Skills you need
- Dye recipes and colour matching
- Machine operation
- Effluent handling
- Dealing with garment makers
Why difficulty 3/5: Colour skill and strict effluent rules make it harder than it looks.
§3Market
Who buys
- Dupatta and garment makers
- Cloth traders
- Boutiques needing colour-matched fabric
How it sells
- Job work for local makers and traders
- Repeat orders from wholesale markets
Good to know
- The report says garment dyeing lets makers raise or cut the volume of popular and unpopular colours as the market demands.
- It notes that dyeing can be done at fibre, yarn, fabric or garment stage.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Horizontal paddle machine | 1 | ₹1.65 lakh |
| Drum machine | 1 | ₹2.70 lakh |
| Washing centrifugal machine | 1 | ₹2.55 lakh |
| Jet dyeing centrifugal machine | 1 | ₹4.50 lakh |
From: PMEGP sample project report — Colouring and Dyeing Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
- Dyes (reactive, direct, sulphur, vat, pigment, acid, disperse)chosen by fibre type
- Salts and Brightol C pastenamed as major raw materials in the report
From: PMEGP sample project report — Colouring and Dyeing Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
In our raw material database
Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) →Sodium sulphate (glauber salt) →Reactive dyes →Natural dyes →
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam
- GST
- Consent from the state pollution board with effluent treatment
- Trade licence
- Labour registrations
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- MudraCentralActiveLoan up to ₹20 lakh, no collateral
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
PMEGP (the report was made for it) fits; at ₹15.86 L it is within MUDRA's ₹20 L limit; CGTMSE covers the guarantee.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Plant & machinery ₹11.40 L + furniture ₹0.60 L + working capital ₹3.86 L = ₹15.86 L. Land own or rented, not costed. Finance: term loan ₹10.80 L, working capital loan ₹3.48 L, own ₹1.59 L.
Working capital: Working capital ₹3.86 L in the cost (bank ₹3.48 L): 10 days of dyes and chemicals and finished stock.
Year not printed on the report — check current machinery prices.
§8Export potential
Export council / board: Not applicable — job-work dyeing service
- Dyeing job work has no HS code of its own; the finished dupattas or fabric are exported by their makers.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Pollution-board closure orders
- Dye and chemical price rises
- Seasonal swings in orders
§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 dupatta colouring and dyeing unit unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam, GST), 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 Dupatta Colouring and Dyeing Unit?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.