HOW TO START YOUR OWN PACKAGED DRINKING MINERAL WATER PLANT BUSINESS IN INDIA ?

In this article, I am sharing step by step process of starting a mineral water plant or packaged drinking water plant in India. Demand of packaged drinking water is growing exponentially in small towns and cities in India. This is evergreen business and there is place for everyone who want to step into this opportunity. Investment required in this business depends upon many factors, few of them are given below :-

·        The production capacity of the plant

·        The place in which plant is being setup

·        Transportation cost

·        Type of water used as source or feed water and its chemistry

·        The type of plant and production capacity per hour – such as bottled, pouches, jar, etc.

There is room for everyone in this business. You can setup small plant with the investment of Rs 14 lakhs or you can go for big plant with high production capacity in 75 lakhs.

Below is a list of important points which I will discuss in this article:-

Steps involved in packaged drinking water production

1.     Identify source of raw water – This is the first step in which you will decide about the source of water which you will use in production of packaged drinking water. The source of water could be bore well water, muncipal supply or other sources in which treatment is possible.

2.      Store raw water – The next process is to store raw water in raw water storage tank with the help of pumping system. Submercible pump could be used in case of bore well water.

3.   Water treatment system – In water treatment process, we use chlorine dosing system,  reverse osmosis (RO), UV sterilization and Ozone disinfection.

4.   Testing of water – In this process we test purified water in in house water testing laboratory. In the laboratory, water is tested for micro biological and chemical parameters. We will discuss about type of laboratory requirement later in this article.

5.      Purified water storage (Bottles/Jars/Pouch) – Production machinery is required to blow & blottles and fill purified water in it. Similarly, machines are available for storage in jars and pouches.

Packaged Drinking Water Plant Cost Estimation

S. N.	Unit	Description	Qty	Rate	Amount
1	RO+UV+Ozonator	2000 LPH	1	440000	440000
2	Product Water tank	2000 Liters Stainless steel	1	110000	110000
3	Lab	All Setup with Reagent	1	300000	300000
4	Interconnecting Pipe Line	Erection & Comissioning	1	85000	85000
5	Transfer Pump	SS	1	10000	10000
6	Pouch packing machine, UV	2000 pph, batch Coding	1	140000	140000
7	Jar Washing Machine		1	65000	65000
8	ISI Aproval Fees	Consultancy	1	250000	250000
	TOTAL	Rs.			1400000

From the above table, we come to know that cost of machines for starting mineral water plant is around 14  lakhs rupess. Apart from machinery, you will need a proper location for plant installation and some basis furniture.

After the installation of plant, you have make a proper business plan for production of bottled drinking water. That business plan will include following details –

1.      Salary and wages for staffs

2.      Working capital per month

3.      Production target

4.      Other expensenses in raw materials if any

Production Capacity & Profit Margin Calculation

Total Production of your plant will depend on how many hours you will work i.e number of shifts assuming that 1 shift is of 8 hours. Suppose you will 2 shifts i.e 16 hours. Therefore, you can produce 8000 bottles in 8 hr.

Profit Margin Calculation –

Now we will calculate yearly profit in this business:-

·         Daily production is 8000 bottles i.e yearly production will be                                                      8000 X 365 = 2920000 Bottles

·         No. Of crates – assuming one crate has 12 bottles – 2920000/12 = 24333 crates yearly

·         Selling price of one crate will be – Rs 80 per crate

·         Total turnover – 80 x 24333 = Rs 1 Crore 94 lakhs

·         Total profit = Turnover – cost of production

Now you have to calculate the cost of production of 24333 crates. The cost of production will include salary to staff, raw materials expenses, electricity usage, laboratory expenses and other expenses.

The cost of production of 24333 crates of packaged drinking water will come around 12 lakhs monthly. So annual cost of production will be 1 crore 44 Lakhs

Total Profit = 1 crore 94 lakhs – 1 crore 44 lakhs = 50 lakhs Annualy

Most Demanding Business

As the demand of packaged drinking water is increasing rapidly, you have to capture the market and start promoting your brand as soon you start production. Include marketing expenses in your business plan and use it accordingly.

Travel to any part of the country today and the one consistent factor is the packaged water sold at bus stops, railway stations, road side stores and even airports. No seminar, event or compendium is complete without these packaged bottles dotting the table of the dignitaries and speakers.

Packaged drinking water is water from any source, which has been treated and disinfected, a process that could involve filtration, UV or ozone treatment or reverse osmosis (RO) and then packaged in bottles or pouches, either plastic or glass, for our consumption. For a product to be considered as “bottled water”, it cannot contain sweeteners or chemical additives (other than flavors, extracts or essences) and must be calorie-free and sugar-free. India’s packaged bottle water industry has been valued at Rs.60 billion in 2013, and this market is expected to reach Rs.160 billion in 2018. There are around 150 domestic Indian Bottled Water Brands in the market today.

When did packaged water become such an essential item, a commodity without which we find difficult to move around? What has spurred this industry to grow at this exponential rate?

A rise in health awareness, poor quality of tap water available, increase in tourism and the easy availability of bottled water have all contributed to the increase in the per capita consumption of bottled water in India today. The packaged water industry in the country is regulated and all bottling units have to obtain a license before they can operate. However illegal manufacturing units do thrive across the country, putting at great risk the health of the people. People can file a complaint to the regulatory authority against unauthorised water drinking plants.

For more information on the packaged water, please read our post.

How to get FSSAI & ISI mark for packaged drinking water plant ?