Setting Up Your Own Water Bottling Factory: A Step-by-Step Guide
7 min read
There was a time when people used to drink water from roadside taps, village wells, roadside hotelier dhabas, or by asking for water when they were thirsty. People do this even today, but no one ever thought that a day would come when people would buy water and drink it.
When Bisleri brought the concept of packaged drinking water to India that would sell bottled water, people thought why would people buy and drink water when it is available free of cost anywhere? Today in India, when one thinks of packaged drinking water, the first name that comes to mind is Bisleri. Today, we will talk about how to start the business of packaged drinking water or mineral water. When thinking of any business, the most thing that revolves in the mind of the people is that how is the scope of this business. Will it be profitable? If you find the answer to this question in the business of mineral water, then India’s current market is Rs 160 billion, which will become Rs 423 billion by the end of 2023.
Mineral water or packaged drinking water has become such a necessity today that whether it is a small bottle of ₹ 10 or a jar of 20 liters, you will see packaged drinking water in your daily life, weddings, and social gatherings, in the kitchen, and almost everywhere while traveling. Now if we talk about profit margin in this business, then the average profit on 500 ml, one liter, and five liter jars is 10 to 15%.
If we talk about only five liters or bigger jars, then the profit increases slightly. In terms of market share, Bisleri leads with a thirty-six percent share among the popular brands of packaged drinking water. This industry is growing every year with an annual growth of 23 to 25%. Its region is water pollution. That’s why instead of drinking supply or boring water, people buy packaged drinking water to drink clean water.
Now let’s talk about setting up a mineral water plant, then The first question comes Why should start this business? So the answer is whether people buy petrol and diesel or not. Everyone needs water because without it it is difficult to survive. The mineral water industry is going to become a Rs 400 billion industry by the end of 2023. That’s why there is a lot of benefit in this. In the last few years, as tourists from outside increased in India, the trend of drinking bottled water increased among both international and domestic people.
Now it is such that those who can afford it, taking care of hygiene, take only bottled water so that their health does not deteriorate because there is a high risk of getting sick by drinking dirty water. That’s why drinking packaged drinking water is considered a healthy lifestyle today.
Now talking about certification and license further, to run any company, you have to obtain many certificates and licenses. Now if it is a matter of getting the company registered, then we have already covered topics like LLP, Firm, Private Limited Company, and One Person Company. Videos are available on the channel. You can check. Apart from this, the license and certificate required to open a mineral water plant is ICAI certification. Food Safety i.e. License Certification from FSSAI, Pollution Control Test Report, Water from Authorized Laboratory, and Pest Control Certificate.
Now if we know how to get a license from SSSI, then you will get its information on their website. After this, you have to take SSI i.e. Small Scale Industry Registration for those doing small-scale business. So if any benefit or scheme is launched by the government, then you can get its direct benefit. So taking such a license is not mandatory, it is not compulsory, but there is no harm in getting it done. Now further talking about BIS i.e. Bureau of Indian Standards, it is very important to take this license also because the government sees whether the product made in the plant is correct in terms of quality or not.
So after getting the BIS certificate, you also have to take a test report of raw and processed water from BIS. Apart from this, trademark registration also has to be done, which is not mandatory, but it is always good to get it done so that no other brand or product comes out in your name. A vendor license from the local authority and a business permit from the state health department is essential. The process for all licenses and registrations may be different in different states and the fees may also be different. It is also necessary to take a license from the Department of Legal Metrology ie Weight Measurement Department, which will prove that the weight of the items given by you is correct.
Now talking about raw materials and machinery, water is the raw material in this process. Apart from this, some chemicals are needed to purify the water. As far as machinery is concerned, raw water pump, dual media filter, carbon filter, mic. Machines like cartridge filters, anti-scanning dose systems, reverse osmosis systems, RO water storage tanks, transfer pumps, ozone systems, UV systems, ozone storage tanks, and recirculation lines are required. Water bottles you can buy wholesale from the market or you can also get your own manufacturing done. You have more advantage in the second way.
If we talk about investment, in terms of the machine we just mentioned, it will cost 15 to 20 lakhs to set up a mineral water plant. The investment adds up even after adding plant installation, staff salary, working capital per month, production target, raw materials, and other things. If the business is started on a very large scale, then a 40 to 50 lakh annual turnover can be earned annually. If we talk about plant construction, if we talk about medium-sized plants, then you will need 4 to 5,000 square feet of space to set up your plant. After which the cost of plant construction will be incurred. It completely depends on you how much better, secure, and quality you will make your plant, in which your investment can be more or less. If there is land for the plant, then it does not matter, otherwise, the cost of buying land or taking it on lease will also be added to the business capital. Talking about water supply, while building the plant, you will also have to dig a borewell so that the water supply continues from the plant. The production of your plant will depend on this. Normally, within a month, 5 to 10,000 cartons of water bottles can be produced comfortably in a plant.
Talking about electricity, you will need at least a 150 KW electric connection to run the machine installed on the plant so that all the equipment can run properly and you should have a generator or powerful inverter at the time of power failure or power failure. So that the production work goes on without stopping. Talking about manpower, a medium-sized plant demands at least 15 to 20 or more manpower as per requirement. In which supervisors, workers, helpers, and lab technicians are employed. Apart from these, people may have to keep you on posts like Electrician, IT, Sales and Marketing, Labour, Driver, Security Guard, Admin, Accountant, and Office Boy. Talking about transport, you should have a three-wheeler or four-wheeler transport arrangement with you to take the product out of the plant or factory to the market, distributor, wholesale, or retailer or to export it to other states so that there is a balance between demand and supply. Let there be no hindrance.
Talking about packaging and labeling, the printed material for packaging and labeling will also cost. You will also have to decide the budget for branding, marketing, and advertising because it is very difficult to make the product popular in the market without advertising. For this, you can get all kinds of media and social media promotion done. You can also think of campaigns for umbrellas, T-shirts, hoardings, banners, tires, and special days related to water.
So after going this far, now we know about the process of making mineral water. The process of purifying raw water and bringing it to packaged drinking water is something like this. First of all, raw water is extracted from the borewell and stored. Then chlorination of that water is done. That is, chlorine is added to the water so that the harmful things present in the water are destroyed. After this, the fine particles of sand and sand and dirt are removed by putting the water in the filter. Now the sand-filtered water is sent for carbon filtering, in which activated carbon once again cleans the remaining dirt in the water. Even after this, if the water is not clean, then the water is purified by sending it to the membrane, which is the last stage of water purification. The purified water is now sent to the lab for testing to check whether the water is potable or not and whether it meets the testing standards or not.
On passing the sample, it is sent to the payment storage tank. Then this water is sent to the final product water tank and cleaned with UV light. After this, before sending the water to the billing room, it is passed through the ozonation process, so that a hundred percent pure water reaches the people. In the billing room, water is filled in the clean and washed bottles with an automatic billing machine, and caps are also fixed on them. After labeling and packaging, they are sent for delivery. If you need any kind of expert, guidance, or help to set up a mineral water plant, then you can call the Institute of Industrial Development.
