§1What this business is
Viscose, nylon and cotton yarns are set on a creel to the design and wound onto a warp beam on a warping machine. The beam goes to a high-speed needle loom where threads are drawn in, and the loom weaves narrow tape with latex (rubber) thread inside. The tape is finished on a finishing machine, wound on rolls and packed in polythene. Buyers are innerwear, garment and hosiery makers, tailoring-material shops and medical-product makers.
Capacity: 16,80,000 metres of tape a year.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone in or near a garment or hosiery cluster with contacts among manufacturers.
Who it is not for
Someone far from garment makers or new to textiles.
Advantages
- Every innerwear, pyjama and track pant uses elastic
- Needle looms run fast with a small crew
- Width, colour and stretch can be changed for each buyer
Drawbacks
- Rubber thread and yarn prices change often
- Garment makers order seasonally and pay late
- Many units in garment clusters compete on price
Skills you need
- Warping and loom setting
- Stretch and width testing
- Yarn and rubber-thread buying
- Selling to garment makers
Why difficulty 2/5: A few machines and a clear market in garment clusters.
§3Market
Who buys
- Innerwear, nightwear and track-pant makers
- Hosiery and garment exporters
- Tailoring-material shops and medical-product makers
How it sells
- Direct supply to garment units
- Haberdashery wholesalers in garment markets
Good to know
- Tape is sold in rolls by width and length.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| High-speed needle loom, 12-shaft, 12-inch front reed | — | — |
| Warping machine, 350 mm, warp speed 180 metres a minute | 1 | — |
| Creel for 250 ends | — | — |
| Aluminium flanged beams | 50 | — |
| Finishing machine with main drum and guide rollers | — | — |
| Back frames | 3 | — |
| Measuring and winding unit for tape rolls | — | — |
From: NSIC project profile — Elastic Tape — private guide — confirm locally
- Crimped nylon yarn
- Viscose yarn, 450 denier
- Cotton yarn, 2/32s
- Latex (rubber) thread
- Glue or starch
From: NSIC project profile — Elastic Tape — private guide — confirm locally
Suppliers in Building Business Bazaar
Baku Bhai Ambalal · Mumbai →India Spinners and Processors · Delhi →Lohia Machine Ltd · Kanpur →Prashant Engg. Co · Ahmedabad →Vardhman Spinning and Gen. Mills Ltd · Ludhiana →
In our raw material database
Polyester filament yarn (POY, FDY, textured) →Nylon filament yarn →
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam registration
- GST registration
- Trade licence from the local body
- Factory licence if your worker count crosses the Factories Act limit
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
- Stand-Up IndiaCentralClosed₹10 lakh – ₹1 crore loan
PMEGP fits (₹21.5 lakh, under the ₹50 lakh manufacturing limit); CGTMSE for a loan without collateral; Stand-Up India for SC/ST and women founders. The total is just above the ₹20 lakh MUDRA limit.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: The NSIC profile prints one figure for machinery and equipment plus 3 months' working capital (raw material, utilities and salary): ₹21.5 lakh. It gives no split between the two, and land and building are not included.
Working capital: Working capital for 3 months (raw material, utilities and salary) is inside the ₹21.5 lakh total; the profile prints no separate figure.
Year not printed on the NSIC profile (an older NSIC Training-cum-Incubation Centre sheet) — check current machinery and material prices.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
- Confirm the 8-digit ITC(HS) line with DGFT or your customs broker before shipping.
- You need an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT before the first shipment.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Elastic that loses stretch leads to returns
- Raw-material price rises
- Seasonal orders and credit
- Competition from large narrow-fabric mills
§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 elastic tape weaving unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam registration, GST registration), 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 Elastic Tape Weaving?
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.