FSSAI licence: which one your food business needs, and what it costs

From 1 April 2026, most food businesses fall into three bands by turnover. Basic Registration covers turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore and costs Rs 100 per year. A State Licence covers turnover above Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 50 crore, and the FoSCoS schedule lists Rs 5,000 per year for the standard kinds of business checked for this article. A Central Licence covers turnover above Rs 50 crore at Rs 7,500 per year, and some activities need a Central Licence at any turnover. Registrations and licences now have perpetual validity, but the annual fee must still be paid. Apply on FoSCoS.

The short version

Read the State fee carefully. This article does not ask you to trust a single flat figure on its own. In November 2026, the FoSCoS Kind of Business eligibility document, updated on 1 April 2026, was opened directly for this article. Row after row shows the same pattern: Registration at Rs 100 for turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore, State Licence at Rs 5,000 for turnover above Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 50 crore, and Central Licence at Rs 7,500 above Rs 50 crore. That pattern was visible for dairy units, vegetable oil processing units, slaughtering units, meat processing units, fish and fish products, general manufacturing, substances added to food, and cold and other storage, among the entries checked. Your payable fee is still the fee FoSCoS shows for your exact Kind of Business, premises and activity. If FoSCoS shows a different figure for your selection, the FoSCoS figure governs.

Why do other pages still say Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 for a State Licence? Because that range comes from the pre reform schedule, where different kinds of business carried different fees, and many guides have mixed the old fees with the new turnover bands. Some updated guides in November 2026 still publish the Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 range. The FoSCoS April 2026 document opened for this article is the stronger source, and it lists Rs 5,000 for the standard State entries checked. A small number of special entries do carry different fees, noted below, including eligible hawkers at Rs 0 and certain Central Government and railway catering entries at Rs 2,000. Those are narrow, activity specific entries, not a general discount.

What changed on 1 April 2026

An FSSAI order dated 13 March 2026 replaced the old turnover bands with effect from 1 April 2026. Before the change, Basic Registration stopped at Rs 12 lakh, and Central licensing began above Rs 20 crore for many businesses. Guides still quoting Rs 12 lakh and Rs 20 crore describe the old system. Do not use them to decide your category in 2026.

At the same time, perpetual validity was introduced for registrations and licences under the amended framework, following the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026, dated 10 March 2026 as summarised in the sources consulted. Perpetual validity means there is no routine renewal application every one to five years as before. It does not mean there is no further payment or duty, as explained below.

Turnover means sales or receipts, not profit. A kitchen with Rs 1.8 crore in sales and a small profit is a State Licence case on turnover, not a Basic case because profit is low. Use the turnover of the food business for the relevant premises and activity, as FoSCoS asks for it.

Most small food businesses also complete Udyam. See Udyam registration benefits.

The fee by kind of business, as FoSCoS shows it

Activities that are Central at any turnover in the same document include proprietary food, food or health supplements and nutraceuticals, non specified food and food ingredients, Ayurveda aahara, radiation processing of food, and 100 percent export oriented units and exporter manufacturers, each listed at Rs 7,500 with no turnover threshold. If your product falls in one of those descriptions, turnover does not save you from a Central Licence.

This table is a guide to the pattern, drawn from the entries opened. FoSCoS contains the full list for every Kind of Business, including food services, trade and retail, transport and other activities beyond the pages checked in detail. Always finish the check inside FoSCoS for your exact selection before you pay.

When activity overrides turnover

Turnover is only the first test. The activity itself can require a Central Licence regardless of turnover. The sources consulted consistently list these cases: importers of food, e-commerce food business operators, and a head or registered office of a food business operating in two or more states. Specialist manufacturing categories listed in the FoSCoS document, such as proprietary foods and nutraceuticals, are also Central without a turnover threshold.

The reverse point also matters. Caterers do not follow the ordinary Basic path in the same way as a small restaurant in the schedule summaries consulted. Two businesses with the same turnover, a cafe and a banquet caterer, should not assume identical applications. Select the true Kind of Business on FoSCoS and accept the category the portal assigns for that activity.

Special fee entries to know: eligible hawker registration is listed at Rs 0, following a fee waiver, and street vendors registered under the Street Vendors Act, 2014 are treated as deemed registered for the applicable FSSAI purpose in the FAQ material consulted. Certain Central Government institutional catering and railway station food service entries carry a separate Rs 2,000 fee in their specified conditions. None of these special entries changes the standard Rs 100, Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,500 pattern for ordinary businesses.

Perpetual validity: what it does and does not mean

Perpetual validity removes the renewal application. Your registration or licence continues unless it is suspended, cancelled or surrendered, provided you stay compliant.

Three duties remain. First, pay the annual fee. Fees can be paid for any number of years at once, as the FSSAI FAQ dated 27 March 2026 explains in the sources consulted. Second, keep your details current when premises, activity or other registered information changes. Third, file any return that applies to your category on time.

Under the 10 March 2026 amendment as summarised in the sources consulted, failure to pay the annual fee or file an applicable return on time can lead to the registration or licence being deemed suspended, with revival on payment or submission and any due penalty as applicable. Operating during suspension invites enforcement action. In plain terms: perpetual means no renewal form, not no annual payment.

If your category changed: migration

Many existing operators now sit in a different band. A business with turnover of Rs 65 lakh needed a State Licence under the old Rs 12 lakh Basic limit. Under the new bands, the same turnover falls inside Basic Registration, if its Kind of Business is eligible for registration and no Central activity applies.

Sources consulted state that operators whose category changed can migrate on FoSCoS, with no modification fee for migration caused by the revised thresholds, fees already paid adjusted, and the licence number unchanged. Do not surrender a valid certificate and start again before checking migration on FoSCoS.

How to apply on FoSCoS

Apply on the official portal, foscos.fssai.gov.in. Go directly to that address rather than through a payment link sent to you, because FSSAI warns about fraudulent payment messages.

First, choose your Kind of Business honestly. The KoB, your premises and your turnover together determine whether the portal assigns Registration, a State Licence or a Central Licence. Second, confirm the premises and turnover details the portal asks for. Third, prepare the documents for your category: identity proof, business constitution documents, premises proof and activity specific documents as the portal checklist shows. Fourth, review the government fee the portal displays for your exact selection and pay that amount. Fifth, save the acknowledgement, payment receipt and issued number.

If you use a consultant, their professional fee is separate from the government fee. Ask for the split in writing. Paying an agent a multiple of a Rs 100 registration fee, presented as if it were a government charge, is the most common overspend in this topic.

Government fee versus total cost

A food brand that sells packaged products under its own name should usually protect that name as well. The cost logic is in Trademark registration for MSMEs: the 50 percent fee benefit. Licence first, brand filing alongside, and neither substitutes for the other.

Worked example: an Indore cloud kitchen that grows

Take an Indore cloud kitchen and tiffin brand with turnover of Rs 65 lakh.

Step 1: Band test. Rs 65 lakh is up to Rs 1.5 crore, so the business sits in the Basic Registration band, assuming its Kind of Business is eligible for registration and no Central activity, such as importing or e-commerce operation as a platform, applies to it. An ordinary cloud kitchen selling its own food is not the same activity as an e-commerce operator. Confirm the KoB on FoSCoS.

Step 2: Fee. Annual government fee is Rs 100. Paid for three years at once: Rs 100 times 3 equals Rs 300.

Step 3: Old rules comparison. Under the pre April 2026 bands, Rs 65 lakh was above the Rs 12 lakh Basic limit and would have needed a State Licence. The benefit of the reform for this business is a category change, not a discount on the same licence.

Now let the same brand grow to turnover of Rs 2.4 crore.

Step 4: New band test. Rs 2.4 crore is above Rs 1.5 crore and up to Rs 50 crore, so a State Licence applies. Standard annual fee on the April 2026 schedule: Rs 5,000. For three years: Rs 5,000 times 3 equals Rs 15,000.

Step 5: The growth cost, stated plainly. Rs 5,000 minus Rs 100 equals Rs 4,900 more per year than the Basic fee. Growth into the State band costs under Rs 5,000 a year in additional government fee. No owner should hold back a growing food business over that figure, but every owner should know it before the portal asks for payment.

Step 6: The activity override. If the same brand begins importing an ingredient directly, importing is a Central Licence activity regardless of turnover, at Rs 7,500 per year for that activity in the standard Central category. Treat that as a separate activity decision with its own premises and KoB check on FoSCoS, not as an automatic upgrade of the kitchen's own licence, and confirm the exact treatment in the portal before you import.

If this brand later sells its packaged line through marketplaces, the seller rules are a different topic again. See How to start selling on Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho for the marketplace side, including the food seller GST position.

Common mistakes

Using the old Rs 12 lakh limit. It ended on 31 March 2026. The Basic band is now up to Rs 1.5 crore.

Choosing Basic for an activity that cannot use it. Importers, e-commerce operators and listed specialist manufacturers need Central licensing regardless of turnover, and caterers follow a different path from an ordinary small eatery. Let the KoB decide.

Assuming perpetual means free. The annual fee remains payable, and non payment can lead to deemed suspension under the 2026 amendment as summarised in the sources consulted.

Copying a State fee from an old table. Older guides showing Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 mix the pre reform schedule with the new bands. The April 2026 FoSCoS document lists Rs 5,000 for the standard State entries checked for this article. The fee FoSCoS displays for your KoB is the fee you pay.

Paying an agent's inflated total as if it were government charges. The government fee for a Basic Registration is Rs 100 per year. Any larger amount is professional fees or other costs and should be labelled as such.