§1What this business is

Dill oil, aniseed and caraway oils, sodium bicarbonate, menthol and an aqueous sugar base are mixed in a stainless-steel vessel, tested, filled and capped in bottles, labelled and printed. It is sold through chemists for babies' gas, colic and indigestion.

Capacity: 400 litres a day; 30% capacity in year 1 rising to 50% in year 5.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A pharmacist or pharma-trade person who can get a manufacturing licence and sell through chemists.

Who it is not for

Someone without pharma regulatory knowledge.

Advantages

  • Well-known household product with steady demand from new parents
  • Simple mixing and filling process
  • Ingredients are standard pharmacopoeia items
  • Sold through a wide chemist network

Drawbacks

  • Needs a drug (or AYUSH) manufacturing licence and a qualified person
  • Parents trust big brands — hard to win shelf space
  • Strict testing and labelling rules for baby products
  • Thin margin in early years

Skills you need

  • Formulation and batch records
  • Quality testing
  • Drug-licence compliance
  • Chemist and distributor sales

Why difficulty 4/5: Simple plant, but drug-licence rules and brand trust make it hard.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Parents of infants
  • Chemists and pharmacies
  • Paediatric clinics

How it sells

  • Pharma distributors and stockists
  • Chemist shops
  • Online pharmacies

Good to know

  • The report describes gripe water as an over-the-counter product sold from drugstores to health-food stores.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Mixing machine (SS vessel with stirrer)1₹6,00,000
Automatic filling and capping machine1₹5,50,000
Sticker labelling machine1₹3,50,000
Printing machine (laser or pad)1₹1,60,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Gripe Water Plant (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Sodium bicarbonate IP (sajikhar)45 mg per 5 ml (report formula)
  • Dill oil, aniseed oil, caraway oilsmall quantities per 5 ml
  • Menthol IP0.5 mg per 5 ml
  • Aqueous sugar base, deionised water, preservatives, ginger extract, fennel flavour
  • PET or glass bottles and labels

From: PMEGP sample project report — Gripe Water Plant (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

§5Licences & registration

  1. Drug manufacturing licence from the State Drugs Controller, or AYUSH licence if made as an Ayurvedic product ('Food and Drug Administration approval' in the report)
  2. Udyam registration
  3. GST registration
  4. Company registration (named in the report)
  5. Trademark registration (named in the report)
  6. BIS certification (named in the report)

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: plant & machinery ₹16.60 L, other assets ₹1.00 L, working capital ₹6.01 L = ₹23.61 L. Premises rented at ₹15,000 a month.

Working capital: Working capital ₹6.01 L (bank ₹5.41 L).

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

3004.90Medicaments in measured doses or retail packing — other

Export council / board: Pharmexcil

  • 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

  • Licence or product-recall problems
  • Contamination
  • Brand competition
  • Distributor credit

§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 gripe water manufacturing unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
  2. Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Drug manufacturing licence from the State Drugs Controller, or AYUSH licence if made as an Ayurvedic product ('Food and Drug Administration approval' in the report), Udyam 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 Gripe Water Manufacturing?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Gripe Water Plant (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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