§1What this business is

Jeera biscuits are a savoury tea-time biscuit flavoured with cumin seed. Maida, cumin, salt, butter, baking soda and spices are mixed into a dough, passed through a sheeter to the right thickness, cut by a rotary cutter and baked in a tunnel oven. The biscuits are sprayed with a little oil, sprinkled with salt, cooled on the conveyor, stacked and packed. The DPR packs the output in 1 kg packets.

Capacity: 100 kg an hour, 800 kg a day in an 8-hour shift, 300 days a year. After 5% wastage the output is 2,28,000 kg a year at full capacity; year 1 is taken at 55%, which is 1,25,400 kg.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A bakery owner or food trader with shop distribution who wants to add a machine-made biscuit line.

Who it is not for

Someone who cannot sell at least half the plant's output from the first year.

Advantages

  • Jeera biscuits are a familiar tea-time snack in most homes
  • Raw materials are common: maida, cumin, butter, salt
  • The DPR counts a PMFME subsidy of ₹7.16 L on the project
  • Biscuits keep longer than bread or cake

Drawbacks

  • Year 1 profit is only ₹1.20 L on sales of ₹123.31 L
  • Break-even is high at about half of capacity
  • The cutter and stacker cost ₹5.50 L each
  • National brands and local bakeries sell the same biscuit

Skills you need

  • Dough mixing and sheeting
  • Controlling tunnel-oven temperature and baking time
  • Food hygiene and FSSAI labelling
  • Selling to wholesalers and kirana shops

Why difficulty 3/5: The line is simple to run, but the margin is thin until sales cross half of capacity.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Households, through kirana shops
  • Tea stalls, canteens and bakeries
  • Supermarkets

How it sells

  • Wholesalers and distributors
  • Direct supply to shops and supermarkets
  • E-commerce sites

Good to know

  • The DPR says supermarkets and hypermarkets account for the highest biscuit sales, and that biscuits also sell on e-commerce sites.
  • Raw material need at full capacity is 2,40,000 kg a year; the eight machines add up to ₹19.95 lakh.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Dough mixer (50 kg in 10 minutes)1₹45,000
Dough feeder1₹45,000
Dough sheeter1₹1,85,000
Rotary biscuit cutter (500 kg)1₹5,50,000
Tunnel oven (100 kg capacity)1₹2,00,000
Conveyor for air cooling (50 kg per ft)1₹1,20,000
Biscuit stacker (80 kg an hour)1₹5,50,000
Packaging machine (40 pouches a minute)1₹3,00,000

From: NIFTEM-K PMFME model DPR — Cumin Biscuits (2022)

  • Maida (refined wheat flour)the main ingredient of the dough
  • Cumin (jeera)gives the biscuit its flavour
  • Butter
  • Salt, baking soda and spices
  • Food-grade packing materialthe DPR packs in 1 kg packets

From: NIFTEM-K PMFME model DPR — Cumin Biscuits (2022)

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. FSSAI licence or registration
  4. Trade licence from the local body
  5. Legal Metrology registration for packed goods
  6. Pollution control board consent where the State asks for it

We can do this registration for you

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§6Schemes & subsidies

The DPR is written for PMFME: a 35% subsidy, capped at ₹10 L, which comes to ₹7.16 L here. The ₹24.34 L project is also within PMEGP's ₹50 L limit for manufacturing; you can take only one of these subsidies. CGTMSE can cover the bank loan without collateral.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Total project cost ₹24.34 L: machinery and equipment ₹19.95 L + miscellaneous fixed assets ₹0.50 L + working capital ₹3.89 L. Land and building are nil; the premises are rented. Finance: own contribution ₹2.42 L, PMFME subsidy ₹7.16 L, term loan ₹11.25 L, working capital loan ₹3.50 L. Machinery cost excludes GST and transport.

Working capital: Working capital is ₹3.89 L, with a bank limit of ₹3.50 L. Raw material and finished stock are held for 5 days, and credit to buyers and from suppliers is 5 days each.

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

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Export council / board: APEDA

  • The DPR prints no HS code and does not plan for exports.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Sales staying below the break-even level of about 50% of capacity
  • Maida, butter and packaging costs rising
  • Biscuits breaking or going soft from poor packing
  • Price pressure from branded biscuits

§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 cumin (jeera) biscuit making 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.

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Sources

  1. NIFTEM-K PMFME model DPR — Cumin Biscuits

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