§1What this business is

Raw milk is chilled, pasteurised at 80–90 °C, homogenised, inoculated with culture and set in an incubator, then packed and kept in a cold room below 4 °C. Curd is eaten daily in most Indian homes. An insulated vehicle is needed for deliveries beyond 40–50 km (report).

Capacity: 50 kg an hour in an 8-hour shift; 20% use in year 1 rising to 40% in year 5.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A dairy farmer or milk collector with steady milk supply and shop contacts.

Who it is not for

Someone without reliable milk and cold storage.

Advantages

  • Daily demand in every town
  • Short process — milk to curd in hours
  • Low break-even (18%) in the report

Drawbacks

  • Very short shelf life — needs a cold chain
  • Big dairies and local sweet shops compete
  • Milk price rises hit margins quickly

Skills you need

  • Pasteurisation and culture handling
  • Hygiene and cold-chain control
  • Daily route sales

Why difficulty 3/5: Simple process, but hygiene and the cold chain are daily work.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Households
  • Hotels, restaurants and sweet shops
  • Hostels and canteens

How it sells

  • Dairy booths and kirana shops
  • Direct delivery to hotels

Good to know

  • The report says urban demand drives the curd market.
  • Use an insulated vehicle for deliveries beyond 40–50 km (report).

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Electric heating tank (single jacketed)——
Homogeniser (double stage, manual)——
Plate heat exchanger (double stage)——
Culture tank——
Curd incubator——
Dump tank——
SS pump, filter, piping and fittings——
Packaging machine——
Machinery (all items above)—About ₹8,00,000 excl. GST (text); ₹6.63 lakh in the cost table
Electricity connection—₹50,000
Equipment and fixtures—₹50,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Curd Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Milk₹40–45 a litre
  • Curd culture
  • Cups and pouches for packing

From: PMEGP sample project report — Curd Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

Suppliers in Building Business Bazaar

National Dairy Development Board, Anand · Anand →

In our raw material database

Milk (raw) →

§5Licences & registration

  1. FSSAI licence
  2. Udyam registration
  3. GST
  4. Legal Metrology registration for packaged goods
  5. State Pollution Control Board consent (dairy wastewater)

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMEGP (sample report), PMFME (micro food processing units), MUDRA for loans up to ₹20 L and CGTMSE fit.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Plant & machinery ₹6.63 L, misc assets ₹1.00 L (electricity connection ₹50,000, equipment and fixtures ₹50,000), working capital ₹2.94 L = ₹10.57 L. The text puts machinery at about ₹8 L excl. GST; the cost table uses ₹6.63 L. Building own or rented (rent ₹3.00 L in year 1).

Working capital: Working capital ₹2.94 L, of which bank finance ₹2.20 L. Milk costs ₹40–45 a litre (report).

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

0403Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, yogurt, kephir and other fermented or acidified milk and cream

Export council / board: APEDA

  • Fresh curd is a local product; exports are rare.
  • Confirm the 8-digit ITC(HS) line with DGFT or your customs broker.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Milk shortage in summer
  • Spoilage if cooling fails
  • Complaints of sour or watery curd

§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 curd (dahi) 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 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 Curd (Dahi) Unit?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Curd Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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