§1What this business is

Mustard seed is cleaned with a high-speed fan and ground in a pulveriser. The powder is cooked with water, salt, sugar and other ingredients in a gas-fired kettle with a scraper, then filled into bottles, capped and batch-coded. The DPR plans 500 kg of sauce a day and counts 1 kg of sauce from 0.503 kg of mustard.

Capacity: 150 MT of mustard sauce a year (500 kg a day), 300 days of 10 hours. The profitability tables run at 55%, 65%, 75%, 90% and 100% of capacity in years 2–6 (82.5 to 150 MT).

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A small sauce, pickle or spice maker who wants to add a low-cost product for fast-food and regional buyers.

Who it is not for

Someone who wants a high-margin premium product from day one.

Advantages

  • One of the cheapest food units to start — ₹18.39 L
  • Works from 300 sq ft
  • Mustard seed is available all year and stores well
  • Fast-food growth is raising sauce demand

Drawbacks

  • Low price per kg (₹90 in the DPR)
  • Packaging costs almost as much as the mustard
  • Mustard sauce sells less than tomato or chilli sauce
  • Pungency fades if the sauce is over-cooked

Skills you need

  • Choosing and grinding mustard seed
  • Cooking to a steady taste and thickness
  • Hygienic hot filling
  • Selling to fast-food stalls and distributors

Why difficulty 2/5: Few machines and an easy process; selling steadily is the main work.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Fast-food stalls, burger and sandwich shops
  • Restaurants, hotels and caterers
  • Households through kirana and supermarkets

How it sells

  • Food-service wholesalers
  • Area distributors
  • Online grocery platforms

Good to know

  • The DPR assumes an average selling price of ₹90 a kg.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
High-speed fan (0.5 kW)1₹0.3 lakh
Pulveriser (50 kg/hour, 1.5 kW)1₹0.6 lakh
Gas-operated cooking kettle with scraper (200 litre)1₹0.6 lakh
Filling and capping machine (1.5 kW)1₹2.7 lakh
Batch coding machine1₹0.12 lakh
Weighing balance1₹0.06 lakh
Accessories1₹1.2 lakh

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Mustard Sauce

  • Mustard seed₹35 a kg in the DPR; 0.503 kg for 1 kg of sauce
  • Sugar₹35 a kg in the DPR
  • Salt₹3 a kg in the DPR
  • Other ingredients (spices, vinegar)₹1.44 L in year 2 in the DPR
  • Bottles, caps and labelspackaging ₹9.90 L in year 2 in the DPR

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Mustard Sauce

§5Licences & registration

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

We can do this registration for you

Start it in your state

Pick your state: today’s cost, central + state subsidy, raw material, land and help, on one page.

§6Schemes & subsidies

At this size the project fits PMFME (35% credit-linked grant, up to ₹10 lakh) or PMEGP (manufacturing up to ₹50 lakh) — choose one subsidy; MUDRA or a CGTMSE-backed loan can cover the working capital.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Land and building ₹4 L + plant and machinery ₹5.58 L + utilities and fittings ₹0.8 L + other fixed assets ₹1.2 L + pre-operative ₹0.90 L + contingencies ₹1.10 L + working capital margin ₹4.81 L = ₹18.39 L, as printed in the Project at a Glance and the project-cost table.

Working capital: Working capital gap ₹19.26 L, ₹22.76 L and ₹31.04 L in years 2–4; margin money (25%) ₹4.81 L, ₹5.69 L and ₹7.76 L; bank finance ₹14.44 L, ₹17.07 L and ₹23.28 L.

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 — look up the exact code in the DGFT ITC-HS schedule before you quote to a foreign buyer.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Taste varying from batch to batch
  • Mould or gas formation from poor sealing
  • Mustard seed price rise
  • Low repeat orders in areas without the taste for mustard

§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 mustard sauce (bottled) 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 Mustard Sauce (Bottled)?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Mustard Sauce

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