§1What this business is
Milk is received, chilled to 4 °C, pasteurised, homogenised and boiled to about 92 °C, cooled, mixed with culture and filled into cups; the cups set in an incubation room, are cooled in a blast room from 45 °C to 20 °C and kept in a cold room below 4 °C until dispatch. An insulated vehicle is needed for trips beyond 40–50 km.
Capacity: 250 kg an hour, 2,000 kg a day, 6,00,000 kg a year; year 1 at 50% (3,00,000 kg).
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
Someone with a milk-collection network or dairy experience and retail links.
Who it is not for
Someone who cannot run a daily cold chain.
Advantages
- Dahi is eaten daily; packaged yogurt is growing
- Milk is easy to get in dairy areas
- Flavoured yogurt can earn more
Drawbacks
- Short shelf life — needs cold chain all the way
- Thin margin: milk is most of the cost
- Big dairy brands dominate shop shelves
Skills you need
- Milk testing and hygiene
- Culture and incubation control
- Cold-chain distribution
- Retail selling
Why difficulty 3/5: Daily milk buying, cold chain and short shelf life.
§3Market
Who buys
- Households
- Hotels, restaurants and caterers
- Sweet shops and institutions
How it sells
- Supermarkets and hypermarkets
- Kirana and dairy shops
- Direct supply to HoReCa buyers
Good to know
- The report says supermarkets and hypermarkets hold the largest share of yogurt sales.
- It expects flavoured yogurt to replace some sweets and ice-cream as dessert.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Batch pasteuriser, 300 L | 1 | ₹1,75,000 |
| SS pump, 500 lph | 1 | ₹30,000 |
| Offline cream separator with balance tank and SS pump | 1 | ₹1,50,000 |
| Milk homogeniser, 300 lph | 1 | ₹2,25,000 |
| Milk chiller, 600 lph | 1 | ₹75,000 |
| Cup sealing and filling machine | 1 | ₹1,50,000 |
| Cooling tower and water pump | 1 | ₹2,00,000 |
| SS and MS interconnecting pipeline | 1 | ₹1,25,000 |
| Air compressor and pipeline | 1 | ₹40,000 |
| Powder-coated electrical panel | 1 | ₹1,25,000 |
| Skid of rectangular SS pipes to mount the equipment | 1 | ₹50,000 |
| Incubation room heater system | 1 | ₹2,00,000 |
| Insulated cold room | 1 | ₹4,75,000 |
| GST at 18% on the above (sub-total ₹20,20,000) | - | ₹3,63,600 |
| Milk analyser | 2 | — |
| DPU | 2 | — |
| Stirrers | 5 | — |
| Electronic weighing scale, 100 kg | 2 | — |
| Lab and weighing equipment above, together (incl. GST) | 1 lot | ₹95,000 |
From: PMEGP sample project report — Yogurt Plant (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
- Milk6,00,000 litres a year at full capacity; ₹38 per kg in year 1 rising to ₹40 in year 5
- Starter culturefor fermentation
- Cups and packing₹1.00 per kg in year 1 (₹3.00 L)
From: PMEGP sample project report — Yogurt Plant (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)
In our raw material database
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam registration
- GST registration
- State Pollution Control Board consent to establish and operate, where the state requires it
- Trademark for your brand name (optional)
- FSSAI licence for a dairy processing unit
- Legal Metrology packaged-commodity registration for packed cups
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMFMECentralUnclear35% subsidy, up to ₹10 lakh
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
- Stand-Up IndiaCentralClosed₹10 lakh – ₹1 crore loan
PMFME gives a 35% subsidy up to ₹10 L for food processing units; PMEGP also fits (₹36.79 L, under ₹50 L); CGTMSE for a loan without collateral; Stand-Up India for SC/ST and women founders.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Building & civil work ₹5.00 L + plant & machinery ₹24.79 L + furniture & other assets ₹2.00 L + working capital ₹5.00 L = ₹36.79 L. The report's summary page prints ₹31.79 L, but its cost table adds up to ₹36.79 L.
Working capital: Working capital ₹5.00 L with a bank limit of ₹4.50 L. Milk is the main cost: ₹114.00 L in year 1 at ₹38 per kg.
Year not printed on the report — check current machinery prices.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: APEDA
- Dairy exports usually need a health certificate and must meet the importing country's dairy rules.
- Confirm the 8-digit ITC(HS) line with DGFT or your customs broker before shipping.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Milk price rises in the lean season
- Spoilage from power cuts or warm transport
- Food safety complaints
§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 yogurt (dahi) plant 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 Yogurt (Dahi) Plant?
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.