§1What this business is
Flowers and water are sealed in a copper heating tank over a wood fire for 8–10 hours; the steam travels through bamboo pipes into a receiver holding base oil (sandalwood or another oil) kept in a cooling tank. Water is separated and the cycle is repeated for 12–15 days until the oil is rich in fragrance, then bottled.
Capacity: 20 litres every 15 days, 480 litres a year (one unit).
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone from a perfume family or town like Kannauj, or with access to flower growers.
Who it is not for
Someone who cannot judge fragrance quality or buy genuine base oils.
Advantages
- Small machinery cost (₹2 lakh per unit)
- High value per litre
- Traditional craft with loyal buyers
- Units can be added side by side
Drawbacks
- Base oil and flowers are about 75% of sales value
- Thin profit at the report's scale
- Quality depends on long practice
- Fake and synthetic attars undercut prices
Skills you need
- Distillation control (heat, time)
- Judging fragrance
- Buying flowers and base oils
- Branding and trade selling
Why difficulty 3/5: Cheap to set up but needs a trained nose and costly base oils.
§3Market
Who buys
- Attar and perfume traders
- Religious and gift shops
- Agarbatti and cosmetic makers
How it sells
- Wholesale to traders (₹16,000 a litre for mogra in the report)
- Own brand in small bottles, online and in shops
Good to know
- Selling prices run from ₹1,000 to ₹1,00,000 a litre depending on flowers and base oil, per the report.
- Warm ittars (musk, amber, saffron) sell in winter; cool ones (rose, khus, kewda, mogra) in summer.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Distillation unit: heating tank (deg), base oil tank (bhapka), cooling tank, separation tank, pump and furnace | 1 unit | ₹2,00,000 (excl. GST) |
From: PMEGP sample project report — Ittar (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
- Flowers (rose, mogra and others)about ₹80 a kg; 10 kg loaded per batch
- Sandalwood base oil₹70,000–90,000 a litre, for costly ittars
- B-2 petro oil base₹10,000–13,000 a litre
- Bottles₹300 per bottle in year 1; the report's mogra ittar uses ₹11,000 of raw material per litre
From: PMEGP sample project report — Ittar (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
Suppliers in Building Business Bazaar
Fragrance & Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), Kannauj · Kannauj →MSME Technology Centre, Imphal · Imphal →
In our raw material database
§5Licences & registration
- GST registration
- Udyam registration
- Cosmetic manufacturing licence from the State Licensing Authority if sold as a cosmetic
- Fire/pollution registration as required (report)
- Trademark for your brand name (optional)
§6Schemes & subsidies
Prepared for PMEGP; a MUDRA Kishore loan covers ₹7.50 L.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Building & civil work ₹1.00 L + plant & machinery ₹2.36 L + furniture ₹0.14 L + working capital ₹4.00 L = ₹7.50 L. Term loan ₹2.75 L, working capital from bank ₹4.00 L, own ₹0.75 L.
Working capital: Working capital ₹4.00 L from the bank — the base oil is the costly part of stock.
Year not printed in the report — check current machinery and raw-material prices.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: CHEMEXCIL
- Attars distilled into a fixed base oil generally fall under 3301.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Flower season and supply
- Costly sandalwood oil
- Adulteration complaints
- Fire risk from wood furnaces
§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 ittar (attar) making unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (GST registration, Udyam 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 Ittar (Attar) Making?
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.