§1What this business is

Malta, the sweet orange of the Uttarakhand hills, is washed and pulped, the juice is filtered, blended with sugar syrup, heated in a thermic-fluid kettle and filled into bottles. The syrup is diluted with water before drinking. The model unit makes 150 tonnes of syrup a year, or 500 kg a day.

Capacity: 150 tonnes of syrup a year (500 kg a day) at 300 days; 55% use in year 2, 65% in year 3, 75% in year 4 and 90% from year 5. Needs 282.33 kg of malta a day at 55% and 462 kg a day at 90%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A fruit processor, cooperative or SHG federation in the malta-growing hills of Uttarakhand.

Who it is not for

Someone in the plains without a contract for hill fruit.

Advantages

  • Gives hill growers a buyer for malta that often goes unsold
  • Syrup keeps far longer than fresh juice
  • A hill-origin product sells well to tourists

Drawbacks

  • Malta is harvested only in winter
  • Working capital is nearly as large as the machinery cost
  • The DPR prices the fruit at ₹60 a kg, which squeezes the margin

Skills you need

  • Juice extraction without bitterness from peel
  • Syrup cooking to the right Brix
  • Hot filling and bottle hygiene
  • Selling through tourist and city outlets

Why difficulty 3/5: Seasonal hill fruit and a cooked, bottled product need planning and process care.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Households
  • Tourists and pilgrims in the hills
  • Hotels, restaurants and sweet shops

How it sells

  • Retail shops and supermarkets
  • Tourist and government emporium outlets
  • Distributors in nearby cities and online sale

Good to know

  • The DPR sets the sale price at ₹210 a kg.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Cold store, 1,500 kg1₹6.00 lakh
Fruit washer, 100 kg per hour1₹1.20 lakh
Pulper, 100 kg per hour1₹1.00 lakh
Sugar syrup preparation tank, 100 litres1₹0.80 lakh
Filter press, 100 litre2₹1.20 lakh
Thermic fluid heating kettle, 100 litres per hour1₹2.20 lakh
Filling and capping machine1₹1.40 lakh
Weighing balance1₹0.06 lakh
Accessories1₹0.50 lakh

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Malta Syrup

  • Malta fruitcosted at ₹60 a kg
  • Sugarcosted at ₹35 a kg
  • Bottles, caps and labelspacking material

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Malta Syrup

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. FSSAI licence or registration
  4. Trade licence from the local body
  5. Legal Metrology registration for packed goods

We can do this registration for you

Start it in your state

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§6Schemes & subsidies

The DPR is written for the PMFME scheme and assumes its 35% credit-linked subsidy (up to ₹10 lakh) with a bank term loan. At this size the project is also within PMEGP's ₹50 lakh manufacturing ceiling; MUDRA and CGTMSE can support the loan.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Total project cost ₹34.57 L = building ₹5.16 L + machinery ₹14.36 L + utilities ₹0.80 L + other fixed assets ₹0.90 L + pre-operative ₹0.90 L + contingencies ₹1.20 L + working capital margin ₹11.25 L (section 2.10 prints the margin as ₹11.20 L against the same total).

Working capital: Working capital margin ₹11.25 L in the project cost; bank working capital finance ₹33.74 L in year 2, ₹39.88 L in year 3 and ₹54.38 L in year 4.

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

  • The DPR prints no HS code or export figure — confirm the ITC-HS code on the DGFT site before you quote to a foreign buyer.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • A short or poor fruit season
  • Bitterness or fermentation in the syrup
  • Transport of fruit on hill roads

§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 malta (hill orange) syrup 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.

Want to start Malta (Hill Orange) Syrup?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Malta Syrup

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