§1What this business is
Articles are degreased, pickled in acid, buffed, soak-cleaned and electro-cleaned, then hung on the cathode bar of the plating tank. The anode is pure silver and the bath is made from ready-made silver salt (silver cyanide with potassium cyanide). Direct current from a rectifier deposits the silver; plating time decides the thickness. The plated article is rinsed and mopped to a shine with lime polish on a soft cloth. Decorative work covers ornamental articles, tableware, gift items and jewellery. Engineering work covers relay contacts, high-frequency components, wave guides, reflectors and bearings, where silver is used for its conductivity. Quality follows IS 1067 (decorative) and IS 1771 (engineering).
Capacity: 10,000 sq m of silver plating a year, valued at ₹30 crore (₹30,000 per sq m); single shift, 300 days. One page of the profile labels this quantity "per month", but its turnover is worked out on 10,000 sq m a year.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
An electroplater or chemist with experience of cyanide baths, in a town with brassware, tableware, jewellery or electrical component makers.
Who it is not for
Anyone not trained to handle cyanide, or without funds to hold silver stock.
Advantages
- Plant cost is small — about ₹13 lakh of tanks, rectifier and lab equipment
- Demand from both decorative and electrical trades
- Ready-made silver salts make bath preparation simpler
- Job work can start with a few steady customers
Drawbacks
- Very large working capital because the raw material is silver
- The bath uses cyanide, a deadly poison
- Electroplating is a polluting trade with strict effluent rules
- Silver stock on the shop floor is a theft risk
Skills you need
- Bath chemistry and testing
- Buffing and polishing before plating
- Safe handling and storage of cyanide
- Keeping account of silver used on each job
Why difficulty 4/5: Cyanide handling, effluent rules and a large stock of silver to finance and guard.
§3Market
Who buys
- Makers of tableware, ornamental and gift articles
- Jewellery makers
- Electrical and electronic component makers (relay contacts, connectors, wave guides)
- Makers of light reflectors
How it sells
- Job work on articles sent by manufacturers
- Direct orders from artware exporters and component makers
Good to know
- The profile charges ₹30,000 per sq m of plating.
- It is written for ready-made silver salts bought from plating chemical suppliers.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Oil-cooled silicon rectifier, 1,000 amp, 12 V, stepless control | 1 | ₹2,00,000 |
| Silver plating tank, MS lead-lined, 2.25 × 1.5 × 1.5 m, with fume duct, blower and thermostat | 2 | ₹2,00,000 |
| Cleaning and swilling tanks, MS lead-lined, 1.5 × 1 × 1 m | 2 | ₹10,000 |
| Etching tank with lip duct and blower | — | ₹50,000 |
| Immersion heaters 3 kW | 2 | ₹10,000 |
| Filter machine | — | ₹40,000 |
| Testing equipment, reagents and laboratory glassware | — | ₹2,00,000 |
| Pollution control equipment | — | ₹2,00,000 |
From: DC-MSME project profile — Silver Plating (2011)
- Fine silver 99.99% (anodes)65 kg a month at ₹58,000 a kg = ₹37,70,000
- Ready-made silver salt96 kg a month at ₹27,000 a kg = ₹25,92,000
- Brightener2 litres a month at ₹12,000 a litre
- Miscellaneous chemicals₹30,000 a month
From: DC-MSME project profile — Silver Plating (2011)
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam registration
- GST registration
- Consent to establish and operate from the State Pollution Control Board (electroplating is a highly polluting category)
- Hazardous waste authorisation for plating sludge and spent bath
- Licence to buy and store cyanide under the state poison rules
- Factory licence where the worker and power limits apply
Start it in your state
Pick your state: today’s cost, central + state subsidy, raw material, land and help, on one page.
§6Schemes & subsidies
The plant alone is small, but with silver stock the profile's project cost is above the PMEGP ceiling of ₹50 lakh. A job-work unit that plates the customer's own silver would need far less; CGTMSE can cover the bank loan without collateral.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: As printed: fixed capital ₹23.00 L (land and building ₹9.00 L, machinery and equipment ₹13.10 L, pre-operative ₹0.90 L) + working capital ₹781.56 L = ₹804.56 L. The ₹781.56 L is 12 months of the monthly recurring cost of ₹65.13 L; the same profile also prints "total working capital ₹195.39 L", which is 3 months. Almost all of it is the cost of silver. The investment shown is fixed capital plus the 3-month working capital the profile totals (₹23.00 L + ₹195.39 L = ₹218.39 L).
Working capital: Monthly recurring cost ₹65.13 L, of which ₹64.16 L is material: 65 kg fine silver (₹37.70 L), 96 kg silver salt (₹25.92 L), brightener and chemicals.
Prices from 2011 — the profile takes silver at ₹58,000 a kg; today's silver price changes the whole working capital figure.
§8Export potential
Plating is job work done for other manufacturers; the plated articles are exported by them, not by the plating unit.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Cyanide poisoning from a handling mistake
- Silver price swings between buying and billing
- Closure for untreated effluent
- Dull or peeling deposit from poor cleaning
§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan
A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.
- Days 1–30: Visit a working silver plating unit (job work) unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam registration, GST registration), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
- 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 Silver Plating Unit (Job Work)?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.