FSSAI licence for snacks, chips and namkeen.
Making and packing namkeen, chips or other snacks for sale needs an FSSAI registration or licence, and turnover alone sets the tier. Most namkeen has no product standard of its own, so the rules that bite are the food category you file under, the frying oil you use and the label on every packet.
A snacks or namkeen maker turning over up to ₹1.5 crore needs Registration (₹100 a year); ₹1.5–50 crore needs a State Licence (₹5,000 a year); above ₹50 crore, a Central Licence (₹7,500 a year). File Indian namkeen under category 18.2 and chips under ready-to-eat savouries (15.1) on FoSCoS.
Which FSSAI licence a snacks and namkeen business needs.
| Annual turnover | You need | Government fee (to FSSAI) | Our filing fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to ₹1.5 crore | Registration | ₹100 a year | ₹4,500 |
| ₹1.5 crore – ₹50 crore | State Licence | ₹5,000 a year | ₹12,500 |
| Above ₹50 crore | Central Licence | ₹7,500 a year | ₹19,500 |
Per FSSAI’s kind-of-business table updated 01.04.2026. Our fee is one-time plus GST. Operating in two or more States/UTs adds a head-office Central Licence (₹7,500 a year).
What to choose on FoSCoS
- Manufacturing — the manufacturer kind of business on FoSCoS, choosing Indian Snacks & Savouries (18.2) for namkeen, bhujia and mixtures, or Ready-to-eat savouries (15.1, potato, cereal, flour or starch-based snacks) for chips and puffs, as listed in FoSCoS's food product categories
- Relabelling or repacking as its own kind of business if you pack snacks made by someone else
2026 tablePer FSSAI’s table updated 01.04.2026. We confirm your kind of business before filing.
What a snacks and namkeen business has to get right.
Each point comes with the regulation, order or FSSAI document behind it. Where FSSAI hasn’t spelt something out, we say it’s our reading.
Namkeen goes under Category 18
FSSAI's direction of July 2021 moved Indian sweets and Indian snacks and savouries into Food Product Category 18 for licensing, instead of proprietary food. Namkeen, bhujia and mixtures go under 18.2. The direction does not apply to products that already have a standard in categories 01–14.
FSSAI direction on Indian sweets and snacks, July 2021; FoSCoS Food Product CategoriesChips and puffs: ready-to-eat savouries
Potato chips, cereal puffs and other potato, cereal, flour or starch-based snacks sit under 15.1, and coated nuts and nut mixes under 15.2. Choose the category that matches each product, because a licence covers only what it lists.
FoSCoS Food Product Categories (15.1, 15.2)Frying oil: the 25% polar compounds limit
FSSAI has notified a 25% limit on Total Polar Compounds in cooking oil — oil beyond it is treated as unfit. If you use more than 50 litres of oil a day for frying, you must keep records and dispose of used oil only to FSSAI-authorised agencies, from 3 March 2019.
FSS (Licensing & Registration) amendment 2017; FSSAI used cooking oil directions, 2019Buy oil within the trans fat cap
Refined vegetable oil, vanaspati, interesterified fat and margarine may contain no more than 2% trans fatty acids by weight from 1 January 2022. Ask your oil supplier for a report against that limit.
FPS&FA Regulations 2011, Chapter 2.2, 2.2.1(16), 2.2.2, 2.2.6Every packet carries the full label
A pre-packed snack needs every mandatory element, including nutrition information, the veg or non-veg mark and allergens named by source — 'contains peanut', 'contains wheat'. Saturated and trans fat must be declared when total fat exceeds 0.5% of the food, which covers almost every fried snack.
Labelling & Display Regulations 2020, reg. 5'Baked not fried' and 'healthy' are claims
Claims must be truthful, unambiguous and not misleading. 'Healthy' on a snack pack has been cited repeatedly in FSSAI notices under the Advertising & Claims Regulations; a misleading claim or advertisement carries a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh.
Advertising & Claims Regulations 2018, reg. 4(1) and 8(3); FSS Act s.53What you’ll be asked for.
On top of the owner’s photo ID and address proof. FoSCoS asks per kind of business, so we send you the exact list for yours before you gather anything.
Full documents checklist- Layout plan showing raw material store, frying or roasting, seasoning, cooling and packing areas
- List of equipment — fryers, extruders, roasters, seasoning drums, packing machines — with capacity
- Product list split by category: Indian snacks and savouries (18.2), ready-to-eat savouries (15.1), nuts (15.2)
- Frying-oil management record: oil purchase, TPC checks and used-oil disposal
- Water analysis report if water goes into doughs or batters
- Food Safety Management System plan and a recall plan
The authorities around this business.
FSSAI isn’t the only door you’ll knock on. These are the bodies that usually matter for this kind of business — each links to what it does and when you’ll meet it.
See the full regulatory map
Food Safety and Standards Authority of IndiaFoSCoSCommissioner of Food SafetyDesignated Officer and Food Safety Officers
FSSAI-notified, NABL-accredited food laboratoriesFoSTaC training partnersFSSAI-recognised auditing agenciesLegal Metrology DepartmentCPCBAdjudicating Officer and Food Safety Appellate TribunalMunicipal corporation or local bodyState Pollution Control BoardCommon mistakes with snacks and namkeen business licences.
Since July 2021 namkeen belongs in category 18.2. An application that lists the wrong category ends in a licence that doesn't cover the product on your shelf.
The 50-litres-a-day rule and the 25% TPC limit are checked through records. Without a log you cannot show the oil was in limits on the day of sampling.
Once total fat is above 0.5% of the food, saturated and trans fat must appear. A missing row is misbranding, with a penalty of up to ₹3 lakh.
Your snacks and namkeen business licence in three steps.
Most of the work is ours. Where something needs you, it says so — and nothing is filed without your approval.
- 1
Book a free 10-minute check
Tell us what you do. We confirm the exact kind of business, the licence and the full cost — including the exceptions most people miss.
Free · no obligation - 2
We file it on your login
You get a checklist for your business, we check every document, and we file on your own FoSCoS account. The government fee goes from you to FSSAI.
Fixed fee, in writing - 3
We keep you licensed
Fees, returns, tests, medicals, labels and inspections — dated, tracked and handled, with a short status note each month.
Ready any day
Our promises, in writing
You get the fee before we start. If the scope changes, you hear it from us before it costs you.
We file on your own FoSCoS account with your approval. Nothing to hand back if you ever leave.
Straight to FSSAI on FoSCoS. It never passes through us.
Each requirement comes with the regulation behind it — and our readings are marked as ours.
FSSAI licence for snacks and namkeen business: questions
Which FSSAI license do I need for a namkeen business?
Turnover sets the tier: Registration up to ₹1.5 crore a year, State Licence from ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore, and Central above ₹50 crore. On FoSCoS you apply as a manufacturer and choose Indian Snacks & Savouries (18.2). Exporting, or selling through your own online store, brings a Central Licence at any turnover.
Do I need an FSSAI license for chips manufacturing?
Yes. Chips are food, so making and selling them needs a registration or licence by turnover before production begins. Potato, cereal, flour or starch-based snacks are filed under ready-to-eat savouries, 15.1. Licensed manufacturers then test products every six months and file Form D-1 by 31 May.
What is the food license fee for snacks?
FSSAI charges ₹100 a year for Registration, ₹5,000 a year for a State Licence and ₹7,500 a year for a Central Licence. There is no renewal fee — licences are perpetual since March 2026 — but the annual fee must be paid or the licence is deemed suspended. Our filing fee is ₹4,500, ₹12,500 or ₹19,500 plus GST.
How many types of FSSAI license are there?
Three: Registration (Form A) for turnover up to ₹1.5 crore, a State Licence (Form B) from ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore, and a Central Licence (Form B) above ₹50 crore or for activities that are Central at any size, such as import and export. A snacks unit picks one by turnover, per premises.
Do I need a food license to make namkeen at home and sell it?
Yes. Selling food made in a home kitchen is a food business, and it needs at least an FSSAI Registration before the first sale — ₹100 a year for turnover up to ₹1.5 crore. The 2026 amendment provides for instant registration on FoSCoS when the application is complete. Sealed packets still need the full label.
Is there an FSSAI standard for namkeen?
We found no product standard for namkeen in the Food Products Standards Regulations. FSSAI's July 2021 direction handles it through Food Product Category 18.2 for licensing. That means your compliance rests on the general rules: permitted additives for the category, microbiological limits, the frying-oil limits and the full labelling rules.
Get your snacks and namkeen business licensed — and keep it that way.
Book a free 10-minute check. A person — not a bot — calls you back within working hours, tells you exactly which licence you need and what it costs, before you commit to anything.
- Government fee paid by you, directly to FSSAI
- Filed under your own FoSCoS login
- Fixed fee, confirmed in writing before we start
Not ready to talk? Get the free 2026 checklist or find your licence yourself.