§1What this business is
Clean limestone is crushed to 3–6 inch pieces and then sized to 20–50 mm, lifted by bucket elevator to a pre-heater and burnt in an oil-fired vertical shaft kiln at about 900–1,000 °C, which drives off carbon dioxide and leaves calcium oxide (quicklime). The lime is cooled, sieved and bagged. It is used as building mortar, as a flux in steel making, in paper pulping, water and effluent treatment, road stabilisation, hide treatment and soil improvement.
Capacity: Not printed in tonnes; sales of ₹120 L at 60% use in year 1 and ₹200 L at full capacity in year 5.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone near limestone deposits with contacts in construction or industrial buyers, as the report suggests.
Who it is not for
Someone far from limestone sources or without a buyer base.
Advantages
- Many buyers: builders, steel, paper, water treatment, mining and tanneries
- Limestone is found in most states
- Low machinery cost (₹16.50 L)
- Simple process
Drawbacks
- Raw material and other direct inputs are about 86% of sales — thin margin
- Loss in year 1
- Kiln dust and flue gas need control
- Bulky product — freight eats profit beyond nearby markets
Skills you need
- Kiln firing and temperature control
- Limestone selection
- Dust and safety management
- Bulk industrial selling
Why difficulty 3/5: Simple plant, but thin margins, dust control and heavy working capital.
§3Market
Who buys
- Builders and building-material shops (mortar)
- Steel plants (flux)
- Paper mills (causticiser)
- Water and effluent-treatment plants, tanneries and farms (soil improvement)
How it sells
- Direct bulk supply to industries
- Building-material dealers
Good to know
- About 75% of India's limestone comes from six states named in the report.
- Quicklime can also be slaked and sold as hydrated lime.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Oil-fired vertical shaft kiln | 1 | ₹8 lakh |
| Jaw crusher | 1 | ₹1.50 lakh |
| Rotary self-driven sieve | 1 | ₹0.80 lakh |
| Weighing balance | 1 | ₹0.75 lakh |
| Overhead water tank, generator, dust collectors etc. | 1 lot | ₹5.45 lakh |
From: SIDBI Stand-Up Mitra project profile — Lime Kiln (2018) — private guide — confirm locally
- Limestone (calcium carbonate)washed, crushed to 3–6 inches, kiln feed 20–50 mm; the report names Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka as the main sources
- Fuel oilfor the kiln
From: SIDBI Stand-Up Mitra project profile — Lime Kiln (2018) — private guide — confirm locally
Suppliers in Building Business Bazaar
Keshab Machineries Pvt. Ltd · Sukchar →Khadi and Village Industries · Bengaluru →
In our raw material database
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam registration
- GST
- State Pollution Control Board consent (kiln emissions and dust)
- Factory licence and fire NOC
- Mineral transit papers for limestone, as per state rules
§6Schemes & subsidies
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
- Stand-Up IndiaCentralClosed₹10 lakh – ₹1 crore loan
Too large for PMEGP; CGTMSE can guarantee the bank loan without collateral and Stand-Up India can fund SC/ST and women founders.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Land ₹4 L + building ₹12.50 L + plant & machinery ₹16.50 L + furniture and electrical ₹1.65 L + preliminary ₹1.98 L + working capital ₹50 L = ₹86.63 L. Finance: promoter ₹21.66 L, bank ₹64.97 L.
Working capital: ₹50 L — more than half the project: inventories ₹24 L, receivables ₹12 L, overheads ₹14 L; bank ₹27 L, own margin ₹23 L.
Stand-Up Mitra profile uploaded in 2018; the year is not printed on the profile. Machinery and material prices will be higher now.
§8Export potential
Export council / board: Not verified yet
- No HS code or export body has been checked against an official list yet.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Fuel-oil price rise
- Poor limestone quality lowering yield
- Pollution-board action on dust
- Quicklime reacts with moisture — storage and handling hazards
§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 lime kiln (burnt lime / quicklime) unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam registration, GST), 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 Lime Kiln (Burnt Lime / Quicklime)?
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.