§1What this business is
Cotton bales are opened and cleaned, carded and combed, drawn, spun and twisted into thread, strengthened and finished, then wound on spools. The thread is used for hand stitching, sewing machines and industrial sewing; the report notes that 95% of sewing threads go into commercial and industrial sewing.
Capacity: Printed as 400 metres a day on a 10-hour shift; year 1 at 50%.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone with spinning or textile-mill experience near a garment cluster.
Who it is not for
Someone without textile experience; small-scale spinning is technical and competitive.
Advantages
- Thread is used by every tailor and garment factory
- Cotton is grown and traded widely in India
- Line of six machines covers the whole process
- Can sell to garment clusters in bulk
Drawbacks
- Cotton prices swing with the crop and MSP
- Thin margin in year 1 (₹2.89 lakh on ₹81.20 lakh sales)
- Big branded threads hold the retail market
- Quality (strength, evenness) is hard to keep on small machines
Skills you need
- Carding, combing and spinning
- Testing thread strength and count
- Cotton buying
- Selling to garment units and wholesalers
Why difficulty 4/5: Spinning needs technical skill and big working capital, and margins are thin.
§3Market
Who buys
- Garment factories
- Tailors and boutiques
- Embroidery and home-furnishing units
How it sells
- Garment-cluster wholesalers
- Haberdashery and tailoring-material dealers
- Direct bulk supply to factories
Good to know
- Raw material is ₹51.00 lakh of ₹81.20 lakh sales in year 1.
- The report links demand to the growth of readymade garments.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton bale pre-opener machine | 1 | ₹1.90 lakh |
| Carding machine | 1 | ₹2.50 lakh |
| Combing machine | 1 | ₹2.00 lakh |
| Sliver lap machine | 1 | ₹3.50 lakh |
| Spinning machine | 1 | ₹3.40 lakh |
| Winding and spooling machine | 1 | ₹1.65 lakh |
From: PMEGP sample project report — Thread Manufacturing (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
- Cotton fibrebought in bales
- Caustic sodaused in finishing
From: PMEGP sample project report — Thread Manufacturing (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
In our raw material database
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam registration
- GST registration
- Factory licence if worker count crosses the limit
- Pollution Control Board consent as applicable (cotton dust)
§6Schemes & subsidies
PMEGP fits this ₹22.46 lakh manufacturing project; CGTMSE gives collateral-free cover.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Sample report total ₹22.46 lakh: plant & machinery ₹14.95 lakh, furniture & fixtures ₹1.50 lakh, working capital ₹6.01 lakh. Land own or rented. Finance: term loan ₹14.81 lakh, working-capital loan ₹5.41 lakh, own share ₹2.25 lakh.
Working capital: Working capital ₹6.01 lakh (bank ₹5.41 lakh); 10 days of stock, 15 days' credit both ways.
Year not printed on the sample report — check current machinery prices.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL)
- Register with TEXPROCIL and get an IEC before exporting thread.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Cotton price swings
- Power cuts
- Quality rejects from garment buyers
- Price competition from large mills
§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 cotton thread manufacturing 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
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 Cotton Thread Manufacturing?
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.