§1What this business is

Maida, sugar, salt, yeast, refined oil and cardamom are mixed in a planetary mixer, baked as a loaf in an industrial oven, sliced and baked again until dry and crisp, then packed. The report plans 300 packets of 250 g an hour over a 10-hour day. Rusk is an everyday tea-time product sold through kirana shops, bakeries and distributors.

Capacity: 300 packets (250 g) an hour, 9,00,000 packets a year (10 hours, 300 days); year 1 at 50%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

Someone with bakery or FMCG distribution experience in a town or district market.

Who it is not for

Someone who cannot build a sales network across many shops.

Advantages

  • Daily tea-time product with mass demand
  • Simple recipe and ingredients
  • Long shelf life compared with bread
  • Low break-even in the report (21%)

Drawbacks

  • Ingredients are three-quarters of sales value
  • Big biscuit and rusk brands dominate shelves
  • Needs a distributor network to move volume
  • Oven and hygiene upkeep

Skills you need

  • Baking and recipe control
  • Food safety (FSSAI)
  • Distributor management
  • Packaging and branding

Why difficulty 3/5: Baking is learnable; selling against big brands needs a strong distribution push.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Households (tea-time snack)
  • Tea stalls, hotels and canteens

How it sells

  • Kirana shops
  • Distributors and wholesalers
  • Modern retail outlets (the report notes their growth)

Good to know

  • The report puts the Indian bakery industry at US$ 4.7 billion in 2010.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Automatic rusk-making plant with industrial oven, planetary mixer and cookie drop1₹18.00 lakh
Taxes, freight and installation (20%)—₹3.60 lakh

From: PMEGP sample project report — Rusk Making Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Maida, sugar, salt, yeast, refined oil, cardamom (ilaichi)₹96.00 lakh in year 1 at 50% capacity
  • Packing film and cartonsfor 250 g packets

From: PMEGP sample project report — Rusk Making Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

In our raw material database

Wheat →Wheat flour (atta, maida, sooji) →

§5Licences & registration

  1. FSSAI licence
  2. Udyam registration and GST
  3. Legal Metrology registration for packaged goods
  4. Fire NOC and State Pollution Control Board consent for the oven
  5. Trade licence from the local body

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMFME (bakery is a listed food activity) and PMEGP fit; CGTMSE for a collateral-free loan; Stand-Up India for SC/ST or women founders.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Samadhan report ₹40.00 L = building and civil work ₹4.00 L, plant and machinery ₹21.60 L (rusk plant ₹18.00 L + 20% taxes, freight and installation ₹3.60 L), furniture ₹1.30 L, other equipment ₹2.00 L, working capital ₹11.11 L. Term loan ₹26.00 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹11.11 L; fresh bank limit ₹10.00 L.

Year not printed on the report — check current machinery and raw-material prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

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

1905.40Rusks, toasted bread and similar toasted products

Export council / board: APEDA

  • Bakery products are APEDA-scheduled; Indian rusk sells to diaspora markets — match each country's labelling rules.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Maida, sugar and oil price rise
  • Moisture spoils packs
  • Credit to distributors
  • Brand competition

§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 rusk making unit unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
  2. Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (FSSAI licence, Udyam registration and GST), 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 Rusk Making Unit?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Rusk Making Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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