§1What this business is

Soda-lime silica glass (or lead glass) is melted in a tank furnace, drawn into a coil on a belan (spindle), cut, joined in a pakai bhatti and decorated with zari strips and hil (gold or silver polish). Bangles are sold by the box to wholesalers for weddings, festivals and daily wear.

Capacity: 350 boxes of bangles a day; 50% in year 1; 10-hour shift.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A family or karigar in a bangle cluster such as Firozabad who knows the craft.

Who it is not for

Someone without furnace experience or links to bangle wholesalers.

Advantages

  • Mass demand, especially at weddings and festivals
  • Fragile, so replacement demand is high (report)
  • Very small machine cost (₹1.20 L)
  • Traditional skill available in clusters like Firozabad

Drawbacks

  • Hot furnace work and burns risk
  • Plastic and metal bangles compete
  • Breakage in handling and transport
  • Low wages and child-labour concerns in the trade

Skills you need

  • Glass melting and drawing
  • Joining and decorating bangles
  • Sizing and packing by box
  • Selling to wholesalers

Why difficulty 3/5: Skilled, hot work; investment is small.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Bangle wholesalers and retailers
  • Women of lower- and middle-income families (report)
  • Wedding and festival buyers

How it sells

  • Wholesale bangle markets
  • Fairs and festival markets
  • Retail cosmetic and bangle shops

Good to know

  • The report says demand rises in festive seasons and marriages and that glass bangles hold customary and auspicious status despite plastic competition.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Tank furnace1₹1,17,000
Pakai bhatti (small baking furnace)1₹1,000
Belan / spindle1₹2,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Glass Bangles DPR (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Soda-lime silica glasssoda ash 33%, silica sand 66%, chemicals 1%, melted at about 1,450°C
  • Lead glass (soft glass)about 24% lead
  • Zariglittering strip for patterns
  • Hilgold and silver polish

From: PMEGP sample project report — Glass Bangles DPR (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

Suppliers in Building Business Bazaar

Centre for the Development of Glass Industry (CDGI), Firozabad · Firozabad →Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CSIR-CGCRI), Kolkata · Kolkata →

In our raw material database

Soda ash (sodium carbonate) →Industrial and medical oxygen →LPG (industrial / commercial) →Glass beads →Feldspar →Quartz and silica sand →Glass cullet (broken glass for remelting) →

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. State Pollution Control Board consent (furnace)
  4. Natural gas or fuel connection approvals
  5. Factory licence

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMEGP fits; MUDRA and CGTMSE for credit.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Samadhan report: civil work ₹6.00 L, plant & machinery ₹1.20 L, furniture ₹1.25 L, working capital ₹3.25 L = ₹11.70 L. Land own or rented.

Working capital: Working capital ₹3.25 L (bank ₹2.93 L); 10 days' stock and 15 days' credit.

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

7018.10Glass beads, imitation stones and similar glass smallwares (Indian tariff lists bangles under this subheading)

Export council / board: EPCH (Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts)

  • 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

  • Fuel (gas) price rises
  • Breakage
  • Seasonal demand
  • Pollution rules in the Taj Trapezium Zone for Firozabad units

§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 glass bangles 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 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

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 Glass Bangles Making?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Glass Bangles DPR (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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