FSSAI Registration & Licensing in India: Complete 2026 Guide

Introduction

Every entity that manufactures, processes, packages, stores, distributes, transports, imports, exports, or sells food in India — including online — needs an authorisation from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) before commencing operations. What most Food Business Operators (FBOs) get wrong isn't whether they need FSSAI — it's which of the three tiers applies, which Kind of Business (KoB) category they fall under, and what documentation that specific combination demands. This guide addresses all three, incorporating the FSSAI (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026, which took effect on 1 April 2026 and materially changed the turnover slabs and validity framework that most existing commentary online still doesn't reflect. If you are setting up or regularising a food business in Ghaziabad, Delhi NCR, or anywhere in India, our FSSAI registration and licensing services can help you choose the right tier and get the paperwork right the first time.

Quick Summary

Tier	Governing Threshold	Authority	Annual Fee	Validity
Basic Registration	Turnover up to ₹1.5 crore	State/Local	₹100	Perpetual
State License	Turnover above ₹1.5 crore and up to ₹50 crore	State Licensing Authority	₹2,000 – ₹5,000	Perpetual
Central License	Turnover above ₹50 crore, plus specific mandatory categories (see below)	FSSAI (Central Licensing Authority)	₹7,500	Perpetual

Perpetual validity applies to licenses and registrations granted under the 2026 amendment and covers all three tiers — see Section 9 for what this actually changes in practice.

1. What Changed in 2026 (Read This First)

On 13 March 2026, FSSAI notified the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations, 2026, following recommendations of NITI Aayog's High-Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms. The order (F. No. RCD-01002/1/2021-Regulatory-FSSAI-Part(1)) came into effect from 1 April 2026 and introduced four structural reforms that every FBO and advisor needs to have internalised:

a) Revised turnover thresholds. The long-standing ₹12 lakh / ₹20 crore slabs are gone. The new thresholds are ₹1.5 crore (Registration), ₹1.5 crore–₹50 crore (State License), and above ₹50 crore (Central License) — a significant widening that moves a large number of previously State-License FBOs down into Basic Registration, and previously Central-License FBOs down into State License, purely on turnover grounds.

b) Perpetual validity. This is the bigger operational shift. Licenses and registrations issued on or after 1 April 2026 no longer carry a fixed 1–5 year term requiring renewal. They remain valid indefinitely, subject to continued compliance — suspension or cancellation for violations, non-payment of the annual fee, or non-filing of annual returns still applies, and the licence lapses if surrendered or if the business closes. You still pay the applicable annual fee every year (or prepay for multiple years in advance if you prefer), but there's no more renewal application to file 30 days before expiry.

c) Risk-based inspections. Physical inspections are moving to a computer-assisted, risk-based frequency model instead of a fixed periodic cycle — businesses with high-risk categories (dairy, meat, packaged drinking water, infant food) and businesses with a history of non-compliance get inspected more often; consistently compliant businesses see fewer physical inspections.

d) Deemed registration for street vendors. Vendors already registered under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 get deemed FSSAI registration without a separate application.

Practical implication for existing licence holders: your existing licence/registration continues to run on its original term until you next touch it (renewal, modification, or a fresh application), at which point it will be reissued on a perpetual basis. If your turnover now falls below your current tier's threshold, you can migrate to a lower tier through FoSCoS with your licence number retained and the fee difference adjusted — there's no separate modification fee for a pure category change triggered by the threshold revision.

2. The Legal Framework, Briefly

FSSAI licensing operates under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, read with the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, as amended (most recently and significantly in 2026). Applications, renewals, modifications, and annual returns are all filed through the Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) — foscos.fssai.gov.in — which has now fully replaced the older FLRS portal across all states and union territories.

3. The Three Tiers, Explained

3.1 Basic Registration

For petty/small FBOs — turnover up to ₹1.5 crore, or production not exceeding 100 kg/litre per day, or milk handling up to 500 litres/day, or slaughtering capacity of 2 large animals / 10 small animals / 50 poultry birds per day, whichever criterion is triggered first. This covers most home-based food businesses, small stalls, hawkers, and petty manufacturers. Recent process reforms allow instant issuance of the registration certificate on the FoSCoS portal for eligible small businesses, without a mandatory pre-registration inspection.

3.2 State License

For mid-sized FBOs with turnover above ₹1.5 crore and up to ₹50 crore, operating within a single state. This is the default tier for most manufacturers, restaurants, caterers, distributors, and storage units that have outgrown Basic Registration but don't meet the Central License triggers described below.

3.3 Central License

Required in two distinct situations, and advisors need to check for both — turnover alone is not the only trigger:

On turnover: Annual turnover exceeding ₹50 crore.

Regardless of turnover — the following categories must obtain a Central License even at zero or negligible turnover, because the category itself is the trigger:

• Importers of food articles/ingredients (mandatory IEC required)
• 100% Export Oriented Units (EOUs)
• E-commerce food business operators/platforms
• Manufacturers of nutraceuticals, health supplements, Foods for Special Dietary Use (FSDU), Foods for Special Medical Purpose (FSMP), functional foods, and novel foods
• Manufacturers of proprietary food (non-standardised formulations, including most branded Ayurvedic/herbal food supplements such as Ashwagandha capsules or powders sold as a health supplement)
• Manufacturers under the Ayurveda Aahara category (Food Safety and Standards (Ayurveda Aahara) Regulations, 2022 — a joint FSSAI–Ministry of AYUSH framework; note this does not cover products positioned as Ayurvedic medicines/drugs, which fall under the state AYUSH/Drugs & Cosmetics licensing route instead)
• Food businesses operating at airports, seaports, and railway premises, or within Central Government establishments
• FBOs operating in more than one state who choose to obtain a single license at their registered/head office covering all premises

A word of caution here, because this is where a lot of applications go wrong: several categories also carry capacity-based eligibility criteria independent of turnover — manufacturing capacity above 2 metric tonnes/day, specified thresholds for cold storage and controlled-atmosphere storage capacity, large vehicle fleets for transporters, and star-rating for hotels, among others. These figures are periodically revised and are best confirmed against the live FoSCoS eligibility checker at the time of filing rather than relied on from a static list, since FSSAI updates them via administrative orders outside the main Regulations.

4. Kind of Business (KoB): The Major Categories

FSSAI classifies every FBO by "Kind of Business" on FoSCoS, and this — not just turnover — drives the exact document list and eligibility. Here are the major ones.

Manufacturer

Anyone who physically processes or manufactures food at their own premises. Requires a detailed premises layout, machinery list, and (where water is used in the process) an NABL-accredited water test report. Eligible for Registration, State, or Central License depending on turnover/capacity.

Relabeller (Contract Manufacturing / Private Label / White Label)

An FBO who gets products manufactured or packed by a third-party FSSAI-licensed manufacturer and sells them under its own brand — the exact model for a private-label supplement, spice, snack, or Ayurvedic-product brand. Relabellers are treated as "deemed manufacturers" under the Manufacturer Group in FoSCoS, cannot hold their own manufacturing premises, and must obtain a valid online NOC from each contract manufacturer they use, generated through FoSCoS itself (see Section 7). Both the relabeller's and the original manufacturer's FSSAI numbers must appear on the product label. This category absorbed the earlier "Marketer (Third Party)" KoB, which is now closed to new applications.

Repacker

Similar to Relabeller but narrower — repacking food into different pack sizes without altering the composition or formulation. Also filed under the Manufacturer Group and also requires an NOC from the original manufacturer.

Trader — Wholesaler / Distributor / Retailer / Supplier

Businesses that buy and sell food without manufacturing or repacking it. Tier depends on turnover under the new ₹1.5 crore/₹50 crore slabs.

Restaurant / Caterer / Cloud Kitchen / Hotel

Food service establishments preparing and serving food, with or without dine-in seating. Star-category hotels (3-star and above) additionally require a certificate from the Ministry of Tourism for Central License eligibility. Cloud kitchens are licensed on the same basis as restaurants despite having no seating.

Transporter

Businesses transporting food articles, licensed based on turnover and/or the size of the vehicle fleet. A self-declaration of the number and type of vehicles used is a standard requirement.

Storage & Warehousing (including Cold Storage)

Covers general storage, refrigerated/cold storage, and controlled-atmosphere storage, with tier eligibility driven by both turnover and storage capacity (measured in metric tonnes). Fulfilment-centre addresses used for e-commerce logistics (own warehouse, or third-party/marketplace fulfilment like FBA-type arrangements) need to be disclosed and linked to the license.

Importer

Mandatorily Central License, regardless of turnover. Requires an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT and, in most cases, an NOC/authorisation and licence copy from the manufacturer of the imported product. A handful of narrow exemptions exist (personal-consumption imports, trade-fair display consignments, R&D-purpose imports) where an undertaking substitutes for a full NOC.

Exporter / 100% Export-Oriented Unit (EOU)

Exporters generally follow standard turnover-based classification unless they are a 100% EOU, in which case Central License is mandatory regardless of turnover, supported by a Ministry of Commerce certificate.

E-commerce Food Business Operator

Any FBO operating an e-commerce/online platform for food transactions — whether a marketplace operator or a brand selling directly through its own website/app/marketplace listings — must hold a Central License under the E-commerce KoB (Form B, prescribed fee), in addition to whatever KoB covers the underlying manufacturing/trading activity (e.g., Relabeller + E-commerce is a very common combination for D2C supplement and Ayurvedic-product brands).

Dairy, Meat & Fish

These carry their own capacity/volume-based thresholds (milk handling volume, slaughtering capacity, processing volume) independent of general turnover slabs, and are treated as high-risk categories under the new risk-based inspection framework — expect more frequent inspections regardless of compliance history.

5. Master Document Checklist

5.1 Universal Documents (every KoB, every tier)

• Photo ID of proprietor/partners/directors (PAN preferred; Aadhaar accepted)
• Address proof of proprietor/partners/directors
• Proof of business constitution — Certificate of Incorporation, Partnership Deed, LLP Agreement, or MOA & AOA, as applicable
• Proof of premises (ownership document, rent/lease agreement, or NOC from the owner)
• GST registration certificate
• List of food category(ies)/products to be handled
• Declaration Form

5.2 Additional Documents by Tier

State License, on top of the above:

• Form B, duly signed
• Layout plan of the processing/storage unit
• List of equipment and machinery with installed capacity (manufacturers)
• List of directors/partners with full address and ID proof
• Food Safety Management System (FSMS) plan or certificate
• NABL water test report, where water is used in the process
• Local body/municipality/panchayat NOC, where applicable

Central License, on top of State List documents:

• Form IX — nomination of the responsible/authorised person (requires a Board Resolution for companies)
• Food recall plan (SOP for retrieving products from the market in case of a safety issue)
• IEC — mandatory for importers/exporters
• Turnover proof (audited financials or a Chartered Accountant's certificate)
• Ministry of Commerce certificate — for 100% EOUs only
• Ministry of Tourism/HRACC star-rating certificate — for hotels claiming that category

5.3 Additional Documents by KoB

KoB	Extra documents
Manufacturer	Process flow chart, machinery list with HP/capacity, source of raw material
Relabeller / Repacker	Contract manufacturing agreement + online NOC from each third-party manufacturer (generated via FoSCoS — see Section 7); copy of the manufacturer's own valid FSSAI license
Importer	IEC, NOC/authorisation + license copy from the (overseas or Indian) manufacturer
Exporter (100% EOU)	Ministry of Commerce EOU certificate
E-commerce	Platform/website/app details; undertaking on compliance with e-commerce food safety obligations
Transporter	Self-declaration of number and type of vehicles
Restaurant/Hotel	Premises proof; Ministry of Tourism star-rating certificate for 3-star and above
Proprietary food / health supplement / Ayurveda Aahara products	Ingredient composition sheet in the prescribed FSSAI format; Certificate of Analysis for the active ingredient; draft label copy showing mandatory declarations

6. Step-by-Step FoSCoS Application Process

1. Determine eligibility. Use the eligibility tool on the FoSCoS homepage against your turnover, capacity, and business activity to confirm Registration/State/Central and identify your KoB(s).
2. Create a login on foscos.fssai.gov.in ("Apply for New License/Registration").
3. Select location and KoB. Choose the state of operation and the applicable Kind of Business — for combination businesses (e.g., Manufacturer-Relabeller + E-commerce), select all applicable KoBs against the same application.
4. Fill premises and applicant details, including registered office details for multi-state/head-office applications.
5. Product/category selection. Select the specific food category(ies). For Relabeller/Repacker KoBs, this is also where you add the third-party manufacturer(s) and initiate the online NOC request.
6. Upload documents per the checklist the portal generates dynamically for your specific KoB + tier combination.
7. Pay the prescribed fee — payment for Relabeller applications is only enabled once the manufacturer's NOC is granted (see Section 7).
8. Application scrutiny. The Licensing Authority reviews the application; queries, if any, are raised on the portal and must be resolved within the stipulated window, failing which the application can be treated as expired.
9. Inspection, where applicable under the risk-based framework (not universally mandatory for every category or every application any longer).
10. Grant of License/Registration, bearing the 14-digit FSSAI number, which must be printed on all product packaging and displayed at the premises.
11. Ongoing compliance: pay the annual fee each year, file Form D1 Annual Returns by 31 May (manufacturers/importers/relabellers/repackers), and maintain records for risk-based inspection readiness.

7. The Online NOC Mechanism for Relabellers (Frequently Misunderstood)

Since 2023, FSSAI discontinued acceptance of a manually signed, physically uploaded NOC letter from the contract manufacturer. The NOC must now be generated end-to-end inside FoSCoS:

1. On the Product Selection page of your Relabeller application, click "Add Manufacturer" and enter their FSSAI license number and production quantity.
2. Click "Send NOC Request" — this routes the request to the manufacturer's own FoSCoS login.
3. The manufacturer logs in, opens "Relabeller NOC Application" in their menu, and accepts or rejects the request, e-signing via Aadhaar/PAN OTP-based authentication if accepting.
4. On acceptance, FoSCoS auto-generates the NOC document and attaches it to your application — there is no separate downloadable blank format to draft.
5. Payment on your application unlocks only after at least one manufacturer shows a granted (not merely pending) NOC. If a manufacturer's NOC is rejected or delayed, you may remove that manufacturer and add another.

If you work with multiple contract manufacturers, this request-and-grant cycle must be repeated for each one; all approved manufacturers get listed against your license.

8. Fee Structure

License/Registration Type	Fee	Basis
Basic Registration	₹100	Per year
State License	₹2,000 – ₹5,000	Per year, depending on category/scale
Central License	₹7,500	Per year (flat, across categories)
E-commerce KoB (Central)	₹7,500	Per year, in addition to the underlying KoB fee where filed separately
Late fee	₹100/day	For delayed annual fee payment
Duplicate license/registration	10% of applicable fee	One-time
Modification (Form C changes)	Equivalent to a one-year fresh license fee	Per modification event

Fees can be paid one year at a time, or prepaid for multiple years in advance at the applicant's discretion — there is no longer a mandatory "select your 1–5 year validity" step at the application stage for new perpetual licenses.

9. Validity, Renewal, and Annual Obligations Post-2026

The renewal cycle that generations of FBOs and consultants have tracked — apply 30 days before expiry, or lapse into a fresh application — no longer applies to licenses/registrations granted from 1 April 2026 onward. What replaces it:

• No expiry date to track. The license remains valid until suspended, cancelled, or surrendered.
• The annual fee obligation continues. Missing a payment triggers automatic suspension under the 2026 amendment — this is now the primary compliance date to track instead of a renewal date.
• Form D1 annual returns remain mandatory by 31 May each year for manufacturers, importers, relabellers, and repackers, with a ₹100/day late fee for delay.
• Risk-based inspections replace the old fixed-cycle inspection schedule; high-risk categories and businesses with compliance issues see more frequent checks.
• Existing licenses on the old 1–5 year system continue to run their original term; they migrate to perpetual validity on their next renewal, modification, or reissuance rather than automatically overnight.

10. Penalties for Non-Compliance

Operating a food business without a valid FSSAI license or registration is an offence under the FSS Act, 2006, attracting a fine of up to ₹5 lakh and imprisonment of up to six months. Separate, more severe penalty provisions apply for selling unsafe or misbranded food, particularly where it causes injury or death — these are best treated as a distinct compliance risk beyond licensing itself, and any FBO handling high-risk categories should build periodic legal review into its compliance calendar rather than treating FSSAI licensing as a one-time formality.

11. Common Mistakes That Delay or Reject Applications

• Wrong KoB selection — most frequently, businesses select "Manufacturer" when they are actually a Relabeller/Repacker (no owned manufacturing premises), or select "Marketer" (a closed category) instead of "Relabeller."
• Missing or stale NOC — for Relabellers/Repackers/Importers, an NOC that isn't the FoSCoS-generated online version, or one obtained from a manufacturer whose own license has lapsed.
• Non-NABL water test reports — a regular lab report is routinely rejected; it must be from an FSSAI-recognised NABL-accredited laboratory.
• Name/address mismatches across PAN, GST, and premises proof.
• Incomplete category-specific documentation for proprietary food/health supplement products — missing ingredient composition sheets or Certificates of Analysis are a common rejection trigger for Ayurvedic and nutraceutical brands specifically.
• Treating a warehouse/fulfilment address as an afterthought — every storage or fulfilment location (including third-party/marketplace fulfilment centres) needs to be disclosed and linked on the license.
• Assuming the old turnover slabs still apply — this is now the single most common outdated assumption in play, given how recently the thresholds changed.

12. Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need FSSAI if I only sell online, with no physical store? Yes. E-commerce food business operators require a Central License under the E-commerce KoB regardless of turnover, in addition to the KoB covering your manufacturing/trading activity.

My product is an Ayurvedic supplement — is it automatically an FSSAI matter, or does it need an AYUSH license instead? It depends on positioning. If sold as a food/dietary health supplement with no disease-cure or therapeutic claims, FSSAI's Health Supplements & Nutraceuticals Regulations (or the Ayurveda Aahara framework, for formulations from classical texts) apply. If marketed as an "Ayurvedic medicine" or makes therapeutic claims, it instead needs a proprietary Ayurvedic medicine license from the state AYUSH/Drugs authority. Get this classification confirmed before filing — it determines the regulator, not just the paperwork.

Is my existing FSSAI license invalid now that the rules have changed? No. It remains valid for its originally granted term. It converts to perpetual validity at your next renewal, modification, or category migration — not automatically.

Can I hold both a State License and a Central License for different premises of the same business? Yes — this is common for multi-state operations. Each state's premises may need a State License, while the registered/head office (or specific mandatory-Central categories like e-commerce or import) is licensed centrally.

What happens if my turnover now falls below my current license tier's new threshold? You can migrate to the lower tier through FoSCoS with your license number retained; there's no separate modification fee for a threshold-driven category change, and any fee difference is adjusted.

In Summary

The 2026 amendment is the most significant FSSAI structural change in over a decade — wider turnover bands, no more renewal cycles, and inspection frequency tied to actual risk rather than a fixed calendar. For most FBOs, this is a genuine compliance simplification. But it also raises the cost of relying on outdated checklists: KoB selection, the mandatory-Central-License categories that operate independently of turnover, and category-specific documentation (especially for private-label, nutraceutical, and Ayurvedic products sold online) remain exactly as easy to get wrong as before — arguably more so, since so much publicly available guidance hasn't caught up with the March 2026 order yet.

How We Can Help

If you need help deciding between Basic Registration, State License, or Central License for your food business — or support with private-label/relabeller structuring, e-commerce filings, or nutraceutical/Ayurvedic product classification — our firm can guide you through the entire FoSCoS process. Call +91 88025 86988, Chat on WhatsApp, or visit our office — we are at Krishna Plaza, Vrindavan Garden, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad. For an overview of the service, see our FSSAI registration page.

This article is for general informational purposes and reflects the FSSAI regulatory position as of September 2026. It is not a substitute for professional advice tailored to your specific business facts.