§1What this business is

Distemper is a cheap water-based wall paint of chalk or lime, a binder (resins or glue/casein), fillers and mineral pigments. Solid materials are ground in a ball mill, made into a slurry, passed through a dehydrator or evaporating tower, mixed with fillers in a powder mixer and packed in 5 kg and 10 kg bags. Buyers mix it with water and apply two coats to plastered walls inside or outside.

Capacity: 1,200 kg a day, 3,60,000 kg a year; use 50% in year 1 rising to 70% in year 5.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

Someone in the building-materials or paint trade with dealer contacts in small towns.

Who it is not for

Someone expecting premium-paint margins.

Advantages

  • Cheap paint that sells in rural and small-town housing
  • Simple powder process
  • Low VOC, matte finish (report)
  • Demand follows construction and festive repainting

Drawbacks

  • The evaporating tower alone costs ₹10 L
  • Big paint brands sell distemper too
  • Low price per kg
  • Dust needs control

Skills you need

  • Mixing and grinding control
  • Colour matching
  • Packing and branding
  • Selling to hardware and paint dealers

Why difficulty 2/5: Simple process; selling against paint brands is the main challenge.

§3Market

Who buys

  • House owners and painting contractors
  • Builders of low-cost housing
  • Institutions repainting buildings

How it sells

  • Hardware and paint dealers
  • Direct supply to contractors

Good to know

  • Distemper can be applied directly on plastered walls and lasts more than 5 years (report).
  • It allows moisture to escape and is easy to clean with mild detergent (report).

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Ball mill1₹1.20 lakh
Dry powder mixer1₹1.50 lakh
Slurry mixer1₹45,000
Dehydrator / evaporating tower1₹10.00 lakh
Other machines and equipment1 lot₹85,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Dry Distemper (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Chalk or lime (base)main body of the distemper
  • Resins (acrylic, alkyd or epoxy) as bindernamed in the report
  • Fillers, mineral colour pigments and alkali-resistant additivesraw material costed at ₹20 a kg in year 1

From: PMEGP sample project report — Dry Distemper (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam (Udyog Aadhaar in the report, optional)
  2. GST
  3. State Pollution Control Board consent (dust)
  4. Legal Metrology packaged commodity registration
  5. Trademark for the brand if required

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMEGP, MUDRA and CGTMSE fit the ₹24.44 L project; Stand-Up India for SC/ST/women founders.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Samadhan report: shed 1,000 sq ft ₹5.00 L + plant & machinery ₹14.00 L + furniture ₹1.00 L + working capital ₹4.44 L = ₹24.44 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹4.44 L (bank ₹4.00 L) — 10 days of raw material and 15 days of finished stock.

Year not printed on the sample 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

3210.00Other paints and varnishes (including enamels, lacquers and distempers)

Export council / board: Not verified yet

  • HS codes are from the WCO HS 2022 list; confirm the 8-digit ITC(HS) line with DGFT or your customs broker.
  • You need an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT before the first shipment.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Colour or quality complaints
  • Raw material price changes
  • Brand competition
  • Dust and worker health

§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 dry distemper making 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 (Udyog Aadhaar in the report, optional), GST), 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 Dry Distemper Making?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Dry Distemper (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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