§1What this business is

Kair (a wild desert berry) and sangri (bean-like pods of the khejri tree) are gathered in western Rajasthan. They are washed, soaked in large tanks to remove bitterness, boiled, mixed with spices and mustard oil, matured and packed. The model unit makes 150 tonnes of pickle a year (500 kg a day), with kair-sangri taken at ₹20 a kg and the pickle sold at ₹240 a kg.

Capacity: 150 tonnes of kair-sangri pickle a year (500 kg a day), 300 days of 8–10 hours; 55% use in year 2, 65% in year 3, 75% in year 4, 90% in year 5 and 100% from year 6.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A pickle maker, women's self-help group or FPO in western Rajasthan with access to collectors of kair and sangri.

Who it is not for

Someone outside the desert districts with no source of the raw berries and pods.

Advantages

  • A well-known Rajasthani speciality with buyers across India and abroad
  • Very low machinery cost — under ₹8 L
  • Almost no power needed

Drawbacks

  • Kair and sangri are gathered from the wild in one short season
  • Packaging is the largest cost in the report (₹36.30 L in year 2)
  • Working capital is several times the fixed investment

Skills you need

  • Removing bitterness by soaking and boiling
  • Spice blending for a steady taste
  • Hygienic filling and oil topping
  • Selling to tourists, sweet shops and online buyers

Why difficulty 2/5: Simple kitchen-scale process; the challenge is sourcing the wild produce and funding stock.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Households, especially Rajasthani and Marwari families
  • Tourists and gift buyers
  • Restaurants serving Rajasthani food

How it sells

  • Kirana, namkeen and sweet shops
  • Tourist-market and highway outlets
  • Online marketplaces

Good to know

  • The report takes the selling price at ₹240 a kg.
  • Projected sales ₹198.00 L in year 2 rising to ₹360.00 L in year 6.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Washing table1₹0.4 lakh
Soaking tank (1,000 litre)5₹5.5 lakh
Gas-operated cooking kettle (200 litre)1₹1 lakh
Batch coding machine1₹0.12 lakh
Weighing balance1₹0.06 lakh
Accessories1₹0.9 lakh

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Kair Sangri Pickle

  • Kair and sangri175 kg a day at 55% capacity; ₹20 a kg in the report
  • Mixed spices₹130 a kg
  • Mustard oil₹140 a kg
  • Jars, pouches and labelspackaging is ₹36.30 L in year 2

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Kair Sangri Pickle

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. FSSAI licence
  4. Trade licence from the local body

We can do this registration for you

Start it in your state

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§6Schemes & subsidies

Written as a PMFME model (35% subsidy up to ₹10 L); the report shows subsidy ₹9.44 L, own money ₹5.39 L and term loan ₹12.14 L. The project is within PMEGP's ₹50 L manufacturing ceiling.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Land and building ₹4.40 L + plant and machinery ₹7.98 L + utilities ₹0.80 L + other fixed assets ₹0.50 L + pre-operative ₹0.50 L + contingencies ₹1.00 L + working capital margin ₹11.79 L = ₹26.97 L.

Working capital: Working capital gap ₹47.15 L in year 2 (bank finance ₹35.37 L, margin ₹11.79 L) — far more than the ₹7.98 L of machinery.

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

  • Pickles and chutneys are an APEDA processed-food group; kair-sangri sells to the Indian community abroad.
  • HS code not checked against the DGFT ITC-HS list here — confirm the code before you ship.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • A dry year cutting the wild harvest
  • Raw material prices jumping in a short crop
  • Mould in jars when oil cover or hygiene is poor
  • Credit stuck with shops and distributors

§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 kair-sangri pickle 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

There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.

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Sources

  1. NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Kair Sangri Pickle

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