People call it as “Bisleri Water Plant“; however, it’s actually a Packaged Drinking Water Plant ( as per the BIS specifications). It’s Bisleri, who first brought the concept of most purified water in India. Very generally, people still call it “Bisleri” water. It’s the way the brand has penetrated in India.
If you are willing to setup a Packaged Drinking Water Plant in India ..
People also call it “Mineral Water Plant” very generally. So, if you are willing to know the cost of such a plant, the cost is divided into the following heads
One Time Costs
Land & Building Cost
Machinery and Equipment Cost
Consultancy Cost (Project Consultancies
Vehicle
Other 1 Time Purchases
Recurring Expenses
Purchases & Consummables
Manpower
Electricity
Licenses & Renewals
Bank Costs
Once you calculate this in detail, and put your financial projections for certain years on paper, you will know the R.O.I. ; the Return on Investment. This will give you the decision on the type of plant to go for.
If you are looking for Loan for Mineral Water Plant …
First, Correct your vocabulary
Why am I saying this ? It’s because generally you may say “Mineral Water Plant“, however, technically you should really mean that. There are 2 technical terms for this …
Packaged Natural Mineral Water and
Packaged Drinking Water ( Other than Packaged Natural Mineral Water )
These standards are set by the B.I.S. ; the body which issues an “I.S.I.” license to anyone who wants to sell Bottled Water in India. Hence it is very important for you to say this correctly. You should know first whether you are going to do a business in which of the 2 kinds of Bottled Water. All other kind of Bottled Water (Like Flavoured Water) are still not under the B.I.S. framework ; hence I won’t talk about that.
It is very important to talk correctly about the product for which you will be asking for a loan. The officers sitting at the opposite desk judge you by various methods. This is fundamental. It tells them that you have done sufficient groundwork.
How much Loan you need for your Mineral Water Plant ?
Exactly how much is the amount you will require for your mineral water plant is the Total Investment for this project. This is the Capital Investment, the money you require towards the machinery, land and other permanent establishments, one time.
Another type of amount which you might require is the ongoing kind of money for various needs such as day to day purchases & consumables, salaries, overhead expenses, fiscal expenses like Bank EMI, interest, Legal expenses and much more. This will be the Working Capital.
(# Please read a special article written on Cost Components to know more)
Once you are clear about these, you can draw your own financial projections. For this, you can take help from any financial consultant like a C.A. or some voluntary organizations like the B.Y.S.T. (in Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai) or De Asra (In Maharashtra only). The consultants will charge you more in comparison to these organizations, however, a consultant makes it specially for you.
What kind of report can you get from them
Usually people go for “Project Report” which is a very popular term for the Bankers. These consultants will offer you a project report for your Mineral Water Plant. A Project Report is a statement which tells the Bankers , on exactly
How Much money the proposer wants ,
and how is he going to Repay the same, in a stipulated time,
and indirectly this also tells the bank, exactly how much money they will make from this, in form of Interest (which is the Banker’s Business)
In other words, the project report is a sales document for the entrepreneur and not just a “yet another legal document“.
It tells you how much money your business will make
First, it tells you exactly how much money your business will make from your proposed project. From this money, you will pay the Interest on the Loan for your Mineral Water Plant. Hence bankers will see first, whether your project really is capable of doing so. For you it may be the first time of setting up a Bottled Water plant; but for bankers, it’s an everyday affair. They might have seen many more cases than yours and the might be driven by some prejudices about this industry itself.
Your Document needs to convince them
The Project Report which you will take to the bankers, will need to convince the bankers that …
The Industry is growing
How your business is going to generate profits
How will the banker benefit
To do this, how much exact amount you require
Your inputs for making the project report are vital
The Consultant agency or an individual practitioner is not an expert in the industry domain i.e. Packaged Drinking Water. It’s you whose inputs will be required while preparing the project reports. So, it’s important that you should collect all this necessary information prior to going to these people.
How can you get these details ?
Searching the suppliers online & approaching them individually 1 by 1
Asking one of the existing plant owner & getting them
Yes, you actually will need to do a lot of legwork before you actually start going to a bank etc. However, a direction can be had by some experts in this domain like what we run a live training on “Idea to Actualization of a packaged Drinking Plant“. In this most of your initial doubts will get clarified. Since 2015, we have been conducting this, and there are many success stories. During this we do have a special session on “Cost Comparison” of various plant types & also train the participants on how to arrive at the capital cost exactly. Do check the next training & attend that.
Bankers will never fund the entire amount. You will need to be ready with your own contribution. Usually 25-30 %. There are many agencies like the SIDBI, which helps you in the seed capital. Meaning, they will fund some 10% in the own capital (redcing your burden by 10%).
Get Ready with Collateral Security & Guaranteer
Collateral Security is some part of asset which you can pledge with the bankers till the tenure of your loan. Once you repay, it’s freed. For this, the consultants will help you a lot.
Guaranteer is a physical person, who knows you well, and stands guarantee that you will repay the loan and if not paid, Bank can collect the EMI or the interest from you.
(This sounds little harsh, but why will someone unknown fund you ? He will, provided he gets assurance besides the profit assurance by the Project Report.)
There are schemes where you don’t require a security or a Guaranteer
True. There are certain schemes from the GOI where you don’t require both of these or at least can skip the guaranteer. A Scheme called CGTMSE is already in place and many other schemes by the GOI. The institutions like the BYST will help you in getting that.
Look for Subsidy issued by the Govt Schemes
Subsidy is some kind of encouragement given in form of some fiscal benefit to the entrepreneur for setting up his enterprises, to encourage employment. There are 2 kinds of subsidies :-
Subsidy by Central Govt
Subsidy by respective state Governments.
Refer This Website for getting details about subsidies. However, here are a few notable points :-
Central Govt has just 1 scheme running for years through which you get 15% investment back (On the machinery value).
This amount should not be more than 15 Lakhs. In other words, projects above 1 Cr of investment in machinery won’t get this subsidy.
This gets deposited into your bank account directly by RTGS, when it’s available & sanctioned.
There are many consultants which may help you to get this. They will charge their professional fees.
Besides the Central, State Govt also float certain subsidy schemes, kindly approach the District Industries Centre (D.I.C.) in your respective state for that. Agencies like De Asra might be of help to you in this.
If you are applying for a subsidy; inform the bank in advance.
Summary of steps before applying for Loan for Mineral Water Plant
Get proper domain knowledge
Decide Which Kind of Project you wish to setup
Calculate your exact need of Finance.
Look for Subsidies
Prepare a project report
Apply to the Bankers
If you have doubts …
You can comment or ask a query in form of comments. Or can shoot a mail to mineralwaterpune@gmail.com or can simply fill a contact form
While looking at the query “Water Purifier Plant Project Cost” ; I tried entering into the query maker’s mind. And concluded that the person more relates to setting up a Mineral Water Plant or a Bottled Water Plant or a Packaged Drinking Water Plant (the way it’s officially called in India).
Let’s look at the basics ..
The basics remain the same; whether you wish to setup a plant in India, or abroad. The basics start from the same things like
What is that you have in mind .. like setting up a “Mineral Water” like the “Himalayan” which costs more than the regular “Packaged Drinking Water” ?
Or you are willing to setup a plant which produces the regular “Packaged Drinking Water” (which is sold at Rs. 20 today)
You may be having land, water ready with you, however, looking to setup a plant on the land you have. And my be willing to know how much will be the cost.
Do you find opportunities if plastic is banned & what will be the alternative to package the bottle ?
Or you might be an entrepreneur who is smart enough to get the water produced at one of the already functional plants & thereby would save the “Water Purifier” Plant Project Cost.
The Costing Fundamentals remain the same
The costing fundamentals remain the same.
The Capital Expenditure (Capex)
The Operational Expenses (Opex)
The ROI (Return on Investment)
As an investor, you would like to have a deeper dive into these principles. Many of these items are covered on the other articles on this website, suggest you to have a look at those like
Also refer the other articles if you find them valuable.
This is all covered at 1 single place
As an investor, or an entrepreneur, do you want to get answers to these questions, comparisons head to head , exact idea on the ROI, need to know the details of what a Water Purifier Plant Project exactly consist of, or can know what will be the future in this “Water” niche ? It is all covered under our Live Training
Want to know more ?
Please write to us at mineralwaterpune@gmail.com to get answer or post comments on this article. Thanks & best luck !
Understand the Opportunity and the Kind of Investment you need
Know the resources required like Water, Land & Building, Machinery, Electricity, Manpower, Money etc. and Choose your Investment Zone.
Select the type of Business you wish to setup : Whether you want to go for a Bottle + Jar Unit or Just Jars or Getting done from a Third Party (Yes, it’s possible !)
Create a Proper Business Plan. This will prepare you exactly for a very successful business. Read more about this here
Make projections through a Project Report & know exactly how much R.O.I. will it provide. If required get help from Organizations like De Asra for this. They help you to get this done at a concessional rate.
Once you are aware of the Total Investment required for a plant, you are clear with how much capital you need to raise. Apply to investors or Bankers for the same, while contributing your own capital as contribution.
Now look for proper Vendors to get the machinery & other resources. You will require several experts here like the Machinery Suppliers, Construction Agencies, Electrical Contractors besides your own employees. Shortlist a few of them.
Now choose suppliers carefully. It is not a bad idea to go for a total Turn-Key project contractor who will organize everything for you & gets your plant running. You can even appoint Consultants; who will work between you and the suppliers. The difference in Turn Key Contractors & Consultants is the Turn Key Contractors work with a single umbrella type pricing; whereas consultants work with individual service charges for consultation, which may not include the machinery or equipment pricing.
Once you get the Loan Amount Disbursement, you should get the project completed in record time. The major hitch here is the B.I.S. License, for which one needs to prepare well from beginning. We suggest you should be always consult for each step you take while starting your Mineral Water Plant. B.I.S. has norms for each of the component, be it partitions or the type of Machinery. Best way is to work with a supplier from start. Take his advice.
Your Mineral Water Plant will start practically when you get a B.I.S. issued ISI mark. Once that is in hand, you are all set to run your Mineral Water Plant.
The Best Way to do this
Attend our Training
We conduct Training Wokshops for the aspirants who wish to setup their ventures in this Industry. It is more focused on creating & Guiding entrepreneur-businessmen willing to start Mineral Water Plant. It has been very well received since 2015. Look at the Training History and the Reviews as well.
Latest Update (March 2026):This post has been fully revised to reflect the FSSAI regulatory changes effective January 1, 2026. This includes the removal of mandatory BIS certification and the new “High-Risk” testing compliance costs.
We shall be Comparing a start-up plant with 200 Jars per Day vs a little advanced stage 1000 Jars per day plants. We shall look at the Capital Investment & the Profit in general.
Detailed Investment Breakdown for 20-Litre Jar Plant (2026)
( Production Assumed 200 Jars per day )
Item Description
Estimated Cost (in Lakhs)
Water Treatment Plant (2000 LPH)
8 – 10 Lakh
Small Lab Setup
1.5 – 2 Lakh
Washing & Filling Table
2 Lakh
Other Machines
1-2 Lakh
Furniture & Electrification
.5-1 Lakh
Licensing Cost
0.5 – 1 Lakh
Construction Cost
10 – 15 Lakh
Total Estimated Investment
25 – 30 Lakh
While the initial investment (Capex) for a 20L Jar plant can range between ₹20 Lakh to ₹25 Lakh, your monthly survival depends on your Net Operating Margin.
Monthly Profit Reality: 200 Jars Per Day (5,000 Jars/Month)
Many entrepreneurs focus only on production costs, but the real “profit killer” is the Cost to Serve (CTS). To calculate your actual monthly take-home, use this breakdown based on a standard 200-jar-per-day operation:
Item
Calculation
Amount
1. Total Monthly Revenue
5,000 Jars ₹40 Selling Price
+ ₹2,00,000
2. Production Cost (COGS)
5,000 Jars ₹8 Manufacturing
– ₹40,000
3. Cost to Serve (Delivery)
5,000 Jars ₹15 Logistics/Labour
– ₹75,000
NET MONTHLY PROFIT
(Remaining after all expenses)
₹85,000
Expert Insight: At a ₹40 selling price and a volume of 200 jars per day, your net monthly profit is ₹85,000. This gives you a healthy “safety net.” Even if fuel prices or labor costs push your Cost to Serve up to ₹20 per jar, you still maintain a monthly profit of ₹60,000. Understanding these numbers is the difference between a plant that merely “exists” and one that actually thrives.
( Production Assumed 1000 Jars per day )
Item Description
Estimated Cost (in Lakhs)
Water Treatment Plant (2000 LPH)
8 – 10 Lakh
Small Lab Setup
1.5 – 2 Lakh
Washing & Filling Machine
10 Lakh
Other Machines
2 – 3 Lakh
Furniture & Electrification
2 – 3 Lakh
Licensing Cost
2 – 3 Lakh
Construction Cost
10 – 15 Lakh
Total Estimated Investment
35.5 – 46 Lakh
Monthly Profit Reality: 1,000 Jars Per Day (25,000 Jars/Month)
Item
Calculation
Amount
1. Total Monthly Revenue
(25,000 Jars $\times$ ₹40 Selling Price)
+ ₹10,00,000
2. Production Cost (COGS)
(25,000 Jars $\times$ ₹8 Manufacturing)
– ₹2,00,000
3. Cost to Serve (Delivery)
(25,000 Jars $\times$ ₹15 Logistics/Labor)
– ₹3,75,000
NET MONTHLY PROFIT
(Remaining after all expenses)
₹4,25,000
However, at this volume, your Cost to Serve (CTS) must be monitored daily. Managing a fleet of delivery vehicles and a larger labor force can eat into your margins if not optimized.
Expert Insight: Selling 1,000 jars a day can generate a net profit of ₹4.25 Lakh per month. At this level of production, you gain “Economies of Scale” on your raw materials, but your delivery costs become your biggest challenge. A ₹5 increase in fuel or a ₹2 increase in labor cost per jar at this volume equals a ₹50,000 to ₹1,25,000 hit to your monthly profit. Precision in your “Cost to Serve” is mandatory at this scale.
Starting a Water Jar Business: Capex and New FSSAI Testing Costs
Current Market Context (2026)
While the demand for 20-litre jars remains the “go-to” business model for residential supply, the financial landscape has shifted significantly this year. With the FSSAI’s removal of the mandatory BIS license, the initial “entry barrier” in terms of licensing fees has dropped. However, because the industry is now classified as “High-Risk,” your investment must now prioritize automation and consistent testing to ensure long-term viability.
🎥 Expert Video Guide: Core Factors of a Jar Plant
While the licensing landscape shifted in 2026, the fundamental engineering and operational factors of a successful 20 Ltr Jar plant remain the same. Watch this video to understand the core pillars of the business, then read below to see how the 2026 FSSAI High-Risk classification specifically impacts your budget.
Why the Cost Structure has Changed:
Licensing Savings: You no longer need to budget for the heavy upfront BIS annual marking fees.
Infrastructure Investment: To meet the 2026 Compulsory Testing Scheme, your Capex should now include a more robust in-house laboratory or a contract with a third-party NABL lab for monthly audits.
Operational Efficiency: With rising electricity and raw material costs (PET), choosing energy-efficient RO membranes and high-quality filling machines is critical for your Return on Investment (ROI).
Beyond the Figures: Mastering Your Capex & Opex
The list above provides a baseline, but a successful 20-litre jar business isn’t built on estimates—it’s built on precise financial projections. Every major business decision you make from here will depend on how accurately you calculate your Capex and Opex.
Because every plant location and market is different, we offer three distinct paths to help you secure your investment:
Do It Yourself (The Training Path): In our professional training, we don’t just give you data; we teach you the techniques. You will receive our proprietary Financial Templates to calculate your own Capex and Opex, ensuring you know exactly where every rupee is going.
Done For You (The 1:1 Consultancy Path): For busy entrepreneurs who want an expert’s “stamp of approval,” we offer a 1:1 Overview + Aqua Finance Metrix Consultancy. We dive deep into your specific project to create a professional financial metric that you can rely on for bank loans or private investment.
The Veteran Advantage (Mentorship): If you want a seasoned veteran by your side through the setup, licensing, and scaling phases, you can join our Mentorship Program. This ensures you have long-term guidance to navigate the “High-Risk” FSSAI landscape and stay ahead of the competition.
Water Jar Plant Investment & Costing: Common Questions
-How much is the total initial investment (Capex) in 2026?
A standard 20L water jar plant typically requires an investment of ₹20 Lakh to ₹25 Lakh. This includes the RO system, filling machinery, basic lab setup, and initial jar stock. Note that land and delivery vehicles are additional costs.
-Does the removal of the mandatory BIS license reduce the setup cost?
Yes, you save approximately ₹1.2 Lakh to ₹1.5 Lakh in upfront towards Lab Setup. However, because the industry is now a “High-Risk” FSSAI category, you must reinvest some of those savings into better hygiene automation and mandatory monthly testing.
-What are the recurring monthly costs (Opex) I should expect?
Beyond electricity and labor, the new 2026 norms require mandatory microbiological and chemical testing. You should budget ₹5,000 to ₹12,000 per month for these audits. In our 10-day training, we provide specific templates to help you calculate your exact cost per jar.
-Is it cheaper to outsource lab testing or set up an in-house lab?
Even if you setup in house full fledged lab, you will need the reports from outside labs
