§1What this business is

Food-grade paper rolls are fed through rollers, glued at the edges, wound into a tube of 4.7 to 20 mm inner diameter, and cut to length. Single-use plastic straws are banned, so juice shops, cafés, restaurants and beverage brands need paper straws. The report plans 720 packets of 100 a day.

Capacity: 720 packets of 100 straws a day, 2,16,000 packets a year; the plan starts at 55%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

Someone who can supply cafés, juice chains or beverage brands.

Who it is not for

Someone who cannot maintain food-grade hygiene.

Advantages

  • Plastic straw ban created the demand
  • One machine line
  • Food-service buyers reorder often
  • Low break-even in the report

Drawbacks

  • Food-grade paper is costly (₹150 a kg in the report)
  • Many new makers entered after the ban
  • Straws go soggy if quality is poor
  • Big beverage buyers demand testing

Skills you need

  • Paper and glue selection
  • Machine setting for diameters
  • Food-contact quality checks
  • B2B sales

Why difficulty 2/5: One machine and a clear market; quality and paper cost decide success.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Juice shops, cafés and restaurants
  • Beverage brands (juice and milk packs)
  • Event caterers

How it sells

  • Packaging and disposables wholesalers
  • Direct B2B supply
  • Online marketplaces

Good to know

  • The report says the shift away from plastic straws, driven by bans, is the main growth driver.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Paper straw making machine1₹9,00,000
Other equipment and hand tools1 lot₹50,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Paper Straw (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Food-grade paper30,000 kg a year at ₹150 a kg (full capacity)
  • Food-grade gum powder4,500 kg a year at ₹180 a kg
  • Packing material₹1.20 lakh a year

From: PMEGP sample project report — Paper Straw (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. NOC from the State Pollution Control Board (named in the report)
  4. Legal Metrology packaged-commodity registration (for packed goods)
  5. Trademark for your brand name (optional)

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMEGP (the report was made for it), MUDRA for loans up to ₹20 lakh (the report's term loan is ₹13.50 lakh), CGTMSE for a collateral-free loan, Stand-Up India for SC/ST or women founders.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Sample report: shed 1,000 sq ft ₹4.00 L + plant & machinery ₹9.50 L + furniture ₹1.50 L + working capital ₹4.44 L = ₹19.44 L. Term loan ₹13.50 L, own ₹1.94 L, working-capital loan ₹4.00 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹4.44 lakh (bank ₹4.00 lakh).

Year not printed on the sample report — check current machinery prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export

4823Other paper, paperboard, cellulose wadding and articles of these materials

Export council / board: FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organisations)

  • HS heading from the ITC(HS) 2022 schedule; confirm the 8-digit line with DGFT or your customs broker.
  • You need an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT before the first shipment.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Paper price rises
  • Rules on plastic relaxed or changed
  • Quality rejects
  • Price war

§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 paper straw making 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

Not verified yet

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 Paper Straw Making?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Paper Straw (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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