§1What this business is
Flowers, foliage and plant parts are collected dry, cleaned, then dried by air, sun, press or by embedding in silica gel, borax or sand to keep their shape. Bleaching and sulphuring preserve or change colour so dyes can be added. The dried material goes into greeting cards, potpourri, handmade paper, lampshades, candle holders, photo frames, gifts and body-care products. The report says dry flowers make up more than two-thirds of India's floriculture exports.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone in a hill, forest or horticulture belt with an eye for craft and contacts with exporters.
Who it is not for
Someone without access to plant material or craft buyers.
Advantages
- Export-oriented product (the larger part of floriculture exports, per the report)
- Uses cheap farm and forest material — grass, pods, cones, leaves
- Long shelf life compared with fresh flowers
- Many craft products from one raw stock
Drawbacks
- Bleaching machine is costly (₹8 L)
- Chemical handling for bleaching and dyeing
- Needs design skill for finished products
- Export buyers want steady quality
Skills you need
- Drying and embedding methods
- Bleaching and dyeing
- Design of finished craft items
- Dealing with exporters and gift buyers
Why difficulty 3/5: Process is learnable; design, quality and export selling take time.
§3Market
Who buys
- Gift and handicraft makers
- Greeting-card, handmade-paper and lampshade makers
- Body-care and potpourri makers
- Exporters of floriculture products
How it sells
- Supply to exporters
- Craft and gift shops
- Direct sales of finished décor items
Good to know
- The report says dry flowers make up more than two-thirds of total floriculture exports.
- Dried flowers are cherished all year for any occasion (report).
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Flower and stem cleaning machine | 1 | ₹20,000 |
| Steel drying machine | 1 | ₹3.00 lakh |
| Bleaching machine | 1 | ₹8.00 lakh |
| Flower packaging machine | 1 | ₹3.00 lakh |
From: PMEGP sample project report — Dry Flowers (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
- Cotton skins, pine cones and flowers, dry chillies, dry bottle gourd, grassnamed in the report
- Tree jasmine, everlasting flowers, asparagus leaves, fern leavesnamed in the report
- Silica gel, borax or white sand; bleach, sulphur and dyesfor embedding, preserving and colouring
From: PMEGP sample project report — Dry Flowers (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam
- GST
- Fire safety and State Pollution Control Board NOC
- Trade licence
- Factory licence (optional, per report)
- BIS certification (listed in the report)
- Trademark for the brand if required
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- NHBCentralActive35% back-ended subsidy
- MudraCentralActiveLoan up to ₹20 lakh, no collateral
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
PMEGP, MUDRA and CGTMSE fit the ₹22.02 L project; check NHB horticulture schemes for floriculture post-harvest support.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Samadhan report: plant & machinery ₹14.20 L + other assets ₹1.00 L + working capital ₹6.82 L = ₹22.02 L; premises rented, not costed.
Working capital: Working capital ₹6.82 L (bank ₹6.14 L); raw material ₹56.10 L in year 1.
Year not printed on the sample report — check current machinery prices.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: APEDA
- 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
- Moisture spoiling the stock
- Chemical safety
- Fashion changes in décor
- Payment delays from exporters
§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 dry flowers 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 Dry Flowers?
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.