§1What this business is

Ragi (finger millet) is cleaned, washed, soaked and sprouted in incubators, dried, de-rooted, roasted and ground into a fine malt flour. It is mixed with milk or water as a health drink and used in weaning foods. The model unit makes 100 tonnes of malt flour a year.

Capacity: 100 tonnes of malt flour a year at 300 days; 70% use in year 2, 80% in year 3 and 90% from year 4. Needs 310, 355 and 400 kg of ragi a day at those levels (75% recovery).

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A millet processor or women's group in a ragi belt such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu or Uttarakhand.

Who it is not for

Someone who cannot keep a clean, controlled sprouting room.

Advantages

  • Ragi malt is a traditional health drink in South India
  • Malting raises the price from ₹30 a kg of grain to ₹120 a kg of flour
  • Ragi stores well, so the unit can run all year

Drawbacks

  • Sprouting needs strict hygiene and timing
  • Big health-drink brands dominate shelves
  • Slow first year — ₹6.76 L profit

Skills you need

  • Soaking and sprouting to the right stage
  • Drying and roasting for flavour
  • Fine grinding and sieving
  • Hygienic packing and labelling

Why difficulty 3/5: Malting is a controlled biological step; the rest is ordinary milling.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Families with children and elderly members
  • Health-food shoppers
  • Baby-food and health-drink makers

How it sells

  • Kirana stores and supermarkets
  • Medical and organic stores
  • Online sale and bulk supply to food brands

Good to know

  • The DPR sets the sale price at ₹120 a kg.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Cleaner, 150 kg per hour1₹1.50 lakh
Washer, 300 kg per hour1₹1.50 lakh
Incubators, 500 litres2₹2.80 lakh
Tray dryer, 100 kg1₹2.00 lakh
Pulper for de-vegetation (removing rootlets)1₹0.70 lakh
Millet roaster, 150–200 kg per hour1₹2.00 lakh
Pulveriser cum sieving machine, 100 kg per hour1₹2.50 lakh
Form fill seal machine1₹3.00 lakh
Compressor, 11 bar1₹2.00 lakh

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Finger Millet Malt Food

  • Finger millet (ragi) graincosted at ₹30 a kg; 75% comes out as malt flour
  • Pouches and cartonspacking material

From: NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Finger Millet Malt Food

§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 ₹30.50 L = extra built-up area ₹2.00 L + plant and machinery ₹18.00 L + utilities ₹2.00 L + other fixed assets ₹2.00 L + pre-operative ₹0.25 L + contingencies ₹2.00 L + working capital margin ₹4.25 L.

Working capital: Working capital margin ₹4.25 L in the project cost; working capital requirement ₹12.76 L in year 2, ₹15.09 L in year 3 and ₹16.94 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

  • Mould or bad smell from over-sprouting
  • Flour picking up moisture after packing
  • Health claims on the label breaking FSSAI rules

§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 ragi malt (finger millet malt flour) 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 Ragi Malt (Finger Millet Malt Flour)?

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

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Sources

  1. NIFTEM-Thanjavur (IIFPT) PMFME model DPR — Finger Millet Malt Food

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