§1What this business is

Sesame from farms is passed through a vibrating pre-cleaner, aspirator, de-stoner, magnetic separator and gravity separator to remove dust, stones, metal and light seeds, then weighed and packed. The report plans 600 kg a day. India is a leading producer; the report says West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana grow over 85% of the crop.

Capacity: 600 kg a day (10-hour shift); year 1 at 40%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A trader, FPO or farmer group in a sesame-growing district.

Who it is not for

Someone without grain-trading experience or harvest-time cash.

Advantages

  • Clean, graded sesame fetches a better price than farm-run seed
  • Buyers include oil mills, sweet makers and exporters
  • Simple, dry process with no effluent
  • Fits farm-gate and FPO models

Drawbacks

  • Thin margin (3–9% in the report)
  • Sesame prices swing with crop and export demand
  • Seasonal buying needs cash at harvest
  • Low first-year capacity use (40%)

Skills you need

  • Seed buying and quality judging
  • Running cleaning and grading lines
  • Storage management
  • Trader and exporter sales

Why difficulty 3/5: Easy machines, but it is really a trading business with thin margins.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Oil mills (the report says 65% of sesame goes to oil)
  • Sweet, bakery and snack makers
  • Exporters

How it sells

  • Grain and seed traders
  • Direct contracts with exporters and processors

Good to know

  • The report puts India's average yield at 413 kg a hectare against 535 kg a hectare elsewhere.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Vibrating pre-cleaner1₹1.25 lakh
Aspirator1₹1.50 lakh
De-stoner1₹1.00 lakh
Magnetic separator1₹2.00 lakh
Gravity separator1₹1.65 lakh
Packaging machine1₹3.80 lakh
Material handling: bins, trolleys, silos, weighing machine, bucket elevator, belt conveyorslump sum₹5.00 lakh

From: PMEGP sample project report — Sesame Seed Cleaning and Grading (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Harvested sesame seed from farmers₹44.64 lakh in year 1
  • Packing bags

From: PMEGP sample project report — Sesame Seed Cleaning and Grading (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

In our raw material database

Sesame (til) →

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration and GST
  2. FSSAI licence (sesame is a food product)
  3. Mandi licence where buying in the regulated market
  4. State Pollution Control Board consent where needed (dust)

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

AIF suits a primary cleaning-grading unit; PMFME and PMEGP also 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 ₹22.16 L = plant and machinery ₹16.20 L, furniture ₹1.00 L, working capital ₹4.96 L; land own or rented.

Working capital: Working capital ₹4.96 L; bank demand ₹4.46 L. 10 days of stock.

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

1207.40Sesamum seeds, whether or not broken

Export council / board: IOPEPC

  • Sesame exports need an IEC and registration with the Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council; buyers test for pesticide residue and salmonella.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Price fall after you buy
  • Pests and moisture in storage
  • Pesticide-residue rejections by exporters
  • Crop failure in the area

§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 sesame seed cleaning and grading 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 and GST, FSSAI licence (sesame is a food product)), 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 Sesame Seed Cleaning and Grading?

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

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Sesame Seed Cleaning and Grading (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

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