The three types at a glance
FSSAI's kind-of-business table, updated by order of 13 March 2026 and in force from 1 April 2026, sets the limits below. The old capacity bands (litres of milk, tonnes a day) and the ₹12 lakh Registration ceiling no longer decide the tier.
| Type | Form | Annual turnover | Government fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration (basic) | Form A | Up to ₹1.5 crore | ₹100 a year |
| State Licence | Form B | ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore | ₹5,000 a year |
| Central Licence | Form B | Above ₹50 crore | ₹7,500 a year |
All three are applied for on FoSCoS (FSSAI’s licensing website). All three carry a 14-digit number: a licence number starts with 1, a registration number with 2 (FSSAI FAQ).
Basic Registration: who it's for
Section 31(2) of the FSS Act lets petty manufacturers and retailers, hawkers, itinerant vendors, temporary stall holders and small or cottage food businesses register instead of taking a licence. The turnover (total yearly sales) limit is now ₹1.5 crore.
- Street vendors pay nil since 28 September 2024. Those registered under the Street Vendors Act 2014 are deemed registered, but the hygiene rules still bind them.
- Anganwadi centres pay nil.
- Caterers are excluded. The 2026 amendment rewrote the petty-business definition and expressly left caterers out. A caterer's smallest option is a State Licence.
Since 2026 a complete Registration application can be granted instantly. See FSSAI Registration.
State Licence: the middle band
A State Licence covers turnover from ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore, at a flat ₹5,000 a year. The old ₹2,000 and ₹3,000 bands are gone. It's issued by the licensing authority of the State where the premises is.
Three cases land here whatever the turnover:
- Caterers up to ₹50 crore, because Registration is closed to them.
- Hotels up to 4-star.
- Grain, cereal and pulses mills above ₹1.5 crore. They stay on a State Licence at any turnover and are never Central.
More on the State Licence page.
Central Licence: above ₹50 crore, and the exceptions
Turnover above ₹50 crore means a Central Licence at ₹7,500 a year, issued by FSSAI's Central Licensing Authority. These need it at any turnover:
- Importers, and exporters (including merchant exporters and 100% EOUs).
- E-commerce food businesses: the platform or your own online store.
- Manufacturers of health supplements and nutraceuticals.
- Hotels of 5-star and above.
- A head office, if you operate in two or more States or UTs. That's a separate head-office Central Licence on top of the premises licences.
Only two rows carry a lower ₹2,000 Central fee: catering at Central Government establishments, and food business at railway stations. See Central Licence and import and export.
State vs Central: how the tier is decided
Work through it in this order:
- Is any activity Central at any turnover? If yes, you need a Central Licence.
- Is it a caterer, a hotel or a mill? Apply the special rule above.
- Otherwise, go by annual turnover.
Where one application covers several kinds of business (the category you register under), the heaviest tier governs the whole application. How the fees combine in that case isn't stated by FSSAI, so confirm the figure with the licensing authority before you pay.
And remember: one licence covers one premises, and only the kinds of business written on it. Adding an activity later means a modification.
"Fees for 1, 3 or 5 years": not any more
Many pages still quote State or Central fees "for 5 years". That belonged to the old system of fixed 1 to 5 year terms. Since 10 March 2026, licences and registrations are perpetual. There is no renewal, and you pay the fee every year instead.
Miss that annual fee and the licence is deemed suspended (it stops being valid automatically), with no notice. Some competitors also publish a ₹10,000 importer fee or a ₹15,000 manufacturer fee. Neither exists in the current table. Our fees guide for 2026 has the full picture.
Why the type matters
Trading on the wrong type can count as trading without a licence. Under section 63 of the FSS Act that carries up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh. The commonest slip we see is a business that outgrows ₹1.5 crore while its Registration certificate still looks fine.
The free licence finder asks four questions and names the kind of business, tier and government fee, with the row it used.