§1What this business is

Live birds are stunned, bled, scalded, de-feathered and cleaned, then cut into pieces. The meat is frozen quickly in a blast freezer, vacuum packed and kept in a cold chamber until it is sold. The model report plans 75,000 kg of frozen chicken a year, buying birds at ₹120 a kg and selling frozen chicken at ₹220 a kg.

Capacity: 75,000 kg of frozen chicken a year, 300 working days of 8–10 hours; 60% use in year 1 rising to 80% in year 5.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

Someone already in the poultry or meat trade who has steady bird supply and buyers for packed chicken.

Who it is not for

Anyone without reliable power, cold storage or a local market for frozen meat.

Advantages

  • Chicken is eaten all year and demand for packed, hygienic meat is growing
  • Frozen packs keep for months, so stock is not lost in a day
  • Hotels, caterers and retail chains buy in bulk on repeat orders

Drawbacks

  • Thin margin: only 3.4% of sales in the first year in the report
  • The freezer and cold chamber must run day and night
  • Slaughter waste and waste water need proper disposal

Skills you need

  • Hygienic slaughter and dressing of birds
  • Running a blast freezer and cold chamber
  • Vacuum packing and labelling
  • Selling to hotels, caterers and retailers

Why difficulty 4/5: Cold chain, hygiene rules and thin margins leave little room for mistakes.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Hotels, restaurants and caterers
  • Retail chains and frozen-food shops
  • Households

How it sells

  • Direct supply to hotels and caterers
  • Distributors with freezer vans
  • Own retail counter

Good to know

  • The report takes the average selling price at ₹220 a kg.
  • Projected sales in the report: ₹99.00 L in year 1 rising to ₹168.42 L in year 5.
  • Machinery prices in the report are before 18% GST.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Chicken cutting machine1₹30,000
Chicken scalding tank1₹33,000
Chicken feather cleaning machine1₹22,000
Chicken head puller1₹55,000
Blast freezer1₹8,50,000
Cold chamber1₹4,60,000
Vacuum packaging machine1₹4,00,000
Other equipment (washing tanks, hook conveyor, knives, trolleys, bins)—₹2,50,000

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Frozen Chicken

  • Live broiler birdstaken at ₹120 a kg in the report; bought from poultry farms
  • Vacuum pouches and cartonspacking material

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Frozen Chicken

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. FSSAI licence (meat processing)
  4. Trade licence and slaughter permission from the local body
  5. Consent from the State Pollution Control Board

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§6Schemes & subsidies

The DPR is written for PMFME, which gives a 35% capital subsidy up to ₹10 L; the report's finance plan is subsidy ₹10.00 L, own money ₹8.85 L and term loan ₹12.50 L.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Plant and machinery ₹24.78 L (₹21.00 L + 18% GST) + other fixed assets ₹3.00 L + working capital margin ₹2.46 L + contingencies ₹1.11 L = ₹31.35 L. Land and building are taken as already owned (nil).

Working capital: Working capital need ₹7.37 L in year 1 (15 days of raw material and 15 days of finished stock); margin ₹2.46 L is in the project cost.

Year not printed on the DPR (the PMFME scheme began in 2020) — check current machinery prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Export council / board: APEDA

  • Meat exports need an APEDA-registered, export-approved plant; a micro unit of this size mainly serves the local market.
  • HS code not checked against the DGFT ITC-HS list here — confirm the code before you ship.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Bird flu scares cutting demand overnight
  • Power cuts spoiling frozen stock
  • Live bird prices rising faster than selling prices
  • Failing food safety or local body checks on slaughter

§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 frozen chicken processing 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

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Sources

  1. NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Frozen Chicken

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