Project Report for Carry Bag
Carry bag manufacturing involves producing shopping and packaging bags using materials such as paper, non-woven fabric, cotton, or approved plastic alternatives. The business serves retail stores, brands, supermarkets, and industries requiring customised packaging solutions with printing and branding options. Get a Completely Custom Bankable Project Report by Sharda Associates—Rs. 2,999 onwards, delivered in 24-48 hrs, backed by 45,500+ CA-certified reports
Get free Sample
Choosing Your Bag Material
Selecting the right bag material is one of the most important decisions in a carry bag manufacturing business because each material serves a different market segment, requires different machinery, and has different cost structures. Common options include paper bags, non-woven bags, cotton bags, jute bags, and other reusable packaging materials. The choice should be based on target customers, local demand, investment capacity, and regulatory considerations.
Paper bags are widely used by retail stores, food outlets, bakeries, fashion brands, and businesses looking for an eco-friendly packaging image. They require paper rolls or sheets, printing facilities, cutting, folding, and handle attachment processes. The demand for paper bags has increased due to restrictions on certain single-use plastic products.
Non-woven bags are popular as reusable shopping bags because they are lightweight, durable, and cost-effective. They are commonly supplied to supermarkets, garment stores, promotional campaigns, and retailers. Manufacturing requires fabric rolls, cutting machines, ultrasonic stitching or sealing equipment, and printing setups for customised orders.
Premium materials such as cotton and jute target environmentally conscious customers, exporters, corporate gifting companies, and brands seeking sustainable packaging solutions. While these products usually have higher selling prices, they may require more skilled labour, better finishing, and stronger quality control.
How the Business Works
For plastic bags, plastic granules (LDPE/HDPE resin) are melted and extruded into film through a blown film extrusion process, which is then cut, sealed, and formed into bags, with printing (for branded bags) typically done before or after bag formation. For non-woven bags, polypropylene fibres are spun and bonded into fabric, which is then cut and sewn or heat-sealed into bag shapes, often with printing for branding. For cloth and jute bags, fabric is cut and stitched into bag form, with printing or embroidery for branding as required.
Across all materials, quality control checks for consistent dimensions, seam/seal strength (since a bag failing under load is a basic quality failure), and, for printed bags, print registration and colour accuracy.
Raw Material
Plastic bag production uses LDPE or HDPE resin granules as the core input. Non-woven bag production uses polypropylene (PP) granules processed into spun-bond fabric, either produced in-house with the right equipment or purchased as ready non-woven fabric rolls from a supplier. Cloth and jute bags use woven fabric (cotton, jute, or blended) typically purchased as fabric rolls. Printing inks and thread/sealing materials are common secondary inputs across all bag types.
Machinery Required
Machinery | Purpose |
Blown film extrusion machine (plastic bags) | Extrudes plastic granules into film for bag-making |
Bag-making/sealing machine (plastic bags) | Cuts and seals extruded film into bag form |
Non-woven fabric bag-making machine (non-woven bags) | Cuts and forms non-woven fabric into bags |
Sewing/stitching machines (cloth/jute bags) | Cuts and stitches fabric into bag form |
Printing machine (flexographic or screen printing) | Prints branding and designs onto bags |
Cutting equipment | Cuts material to required bag dimensions |
Your machinery investment should follow directly from your chosen material focus — a plastic bag operation and a cloth/jute bag operation require almost entirely different equipment, so it’s worth deciding your product range before finalising machinery purchases rather than trying to cover multiple materials from day one.
Plant Capacity and Space Requirement
Capacity is generally planned in kilograms or units of bags produced per day, scaling with your extrusion or fabric processing and bag-forming equipment throughput. A small unit can operate from around 1,500–2,500 sq. ft. of space, with distinct areas for raw material storage, production (extrusion/fabric processing and bag-forming), printing, and finished goods storage.
Investment Overview
Cost Component | What It Covers |
Land and building / shed | Owned land or rental deposit, civil work |
Plant and machinery | Extrusion/fabric processing, bag-forming, and printing equipment |
Electrical installation | Wiring, 3-phase connection |
Pre-operative expenses | EPR registration, other licenses, consultancy |
Working capital margin | Raw material stock, wages, initial operating cost |
Investment varies considerably by material choice — plastic and non-woven extrusion-based production generally requires more machinery investment than cloth or jute bag stitching operations.
Working Capital Requirement
Working capital needs to cover raw material purchases, as prices of materials such as plastic resin, paper, non-woven fabric, cotton, and jute can fluctuate due to changes in commodity markets, supply conditions, and seasonal demand. Additional funds are required for printing inks, handles, adhesives, packaging materials, labour wages, electricity, maintenance, transportation, and other routine operating expenses. If the business supplies carry bags to retailers, brands, supermarkets, or wholesale distributors on credit terms, sufficient working capital is needed to manage the gap between production costs and customer payments. Maintaining an adequate inventory of raw materials and finished goods helps ensure uninterrupted production, timely order fulfilment, and stable cash flow, especially when handling bulk customised orders with longer delivery cycles.
Market Demand and Target Customers
Demand for carry bags comes from retail stores across every category, e-commerce and delivery businesses needing packaging, and brands wanting custom-printed bags for their own retail operations. As plastic bag regulations have tightened, demand has shifted meaningfully toward compliant alternatives — thicker, EPR-compliant plastic bags for specific permitted uses, and non-woven, cloth, or paper bags more broadly — so understanding which segment of this shifting market you’re targeting is important for realistic demand planning.
Licenses and Registrations
License / Registration | Issuing Authority |
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) Registration | Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), via the online EPR portal |
Udyam (MSME) Registration | Ministry of MSME |
GST Registration | Goods and Services Tax Department |
Trade License | Local Municipal Corporation |
Consent to Establish/Operate | State Pollution Control Board |
Factory License (if applicable) | State Labour/Factories Department |
This is the central compliance area for this business, and it applies specifically to plastic (and non-woven) bag manufacturers: EPR registration on the CPCB portal is mandatory for producers, importers, and brand owners of plastic packaging, including carry bags, and operating without this registration means you cannot legally trade raw materials or finished plastic packaging.
Separately, plastic carry bags must currently meet a minimum thickness requirement (revised upward over recent years from 50 to 75 microns under the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules), and compostable plastic bags must conform to IS 17088, while recycled-content plastic products must conform to IS 14534 and carry appropriate labelling. These thresholds and requirements have been revised multiple times in recent years and are subject to further change, so it’s essential to confirm the current applicable standards directly with CPCB or a regulatory consultant before finalising your production plan — cloth, jute, and paper bag manufacturing sits outside this specific regulatory framework entirely.
Documents Required
- PAN card and Aadhaar card of the promoter(s)
- Business address proof (rent agreement or property documents)
- Land or shed ownership/lease documents
- Machinery quotations from suppliers
- Udyam (MSME) registration certificate
- EPR registration on the CPCB portal, or application status (for plastic/non-woven bag production)
- GST registration (if applicable)
- Bank statements of the promoter (last 6–12 months)
- Passport-size photographs
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Not registering for EPR before starting plastic or non-woven bag production is a serious and increasingly enforced compliance mistake, since unregistered entities cannot legally trade raw materials or finished plastic packaging under current rules. Assuming current thickness and material standards without checking for recent updates is another frequent gap, given how often these specific requirements have been revised. Some new entrants also commit fully to plastic bag production without considering how demand is shifting toward compliant alternatives like non-woven, cloth, or paper bags, missing a genuinely growing segment of this market.
Practical Tips Before Starting
Confirm current EPR registration requirements and plastic thickness/material standards directly with CPCB or a regulatory consultant before finalising your material choice and machinery investment, since this area has changed significantly in recent years. Consider whether a non-woven, cloth, or paper bag focus — or a combination alongside compliant plastic bags — better matches where market demand and regulation are heading, rather than assuming plastic bags alone remain a stable, unchanging market. Build relationships with retail and brand customers early, since custom-printed bags for specific retailers is a significant and stable demand segment across all bag materials.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, for plastic and non-woven bag producers — EPR registration on the CPCB portal is mandatory under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, and unregistered entities cannot legally trade raw materials or finished plastic packaging. Cloth, jute, and paper bag manufacturing isn't covered by this specific requirement.
The requirement has been revised upward over recent years, most recently to 75 microns under the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules. Given how frequently this has changed, it's important to confirm the current figure directly with CPCB or a regulatory consultant before finalising production.
Yes, non-woven fabric bags are subject to their own minimum weight (GSM) standards rather than the thickness rules that apply to plastic film bags, though they may still fall under EPR registration requirements as a form of plastic packaging.
No, cloth, jute, and paper bags sit outside the plastic waste regulatory framework entirely, since they're not plastic products, so EPR registration and plastic-specific thickness rules don't apply to this category.
IS 17088 is the Indian Standard specification for compostable plastics. It applies specifically if you're manufacturing bags marketed as compostable plastic, which are exempt from the standard thickness requirement but must meet this separate compostability standard instead.
This varies by bank and scheme, but promoters typically contribute 10–25% of the total project cost from their own funds, with the balance financed as a term loan and working capital limit.
Customers include retail stores across all categories, e-commerce and delivery businesses needing packaging, and brands wanting custom-printed bags for their own retail operations.
It's possible, but the machinery and processes are quite different between plastic/non-woven extrusion-based production and cloth/jute stitching-based production, so most units focus on one material category, at least initially, rather than investing in both simultaneously.