FSSAI Registration & Food Licence (Basic, State, Central)

What is FSSAI Registration & Licence (FoSCoS)?

Every food business in India - manufacturer, trader, restaurant, cloud kitchen, home baker, importer or online seller - must hold an FSSAI Registration or Licence under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Applications are filed online on FSSAI's FoSCoS portal and you get a 14-digit number that must be printed on labels and displayed at the premises. From 1 April 2026 FSSAI revised the categories: Basic Registration up to Rs 1.5 crore turnover, State Licence above Rs 1.5 crore up to Rs 50 crore, and Central Licence above Rs 50 crore. Some activities, such as import, e-commerce, export and nutraceuticals, always need a Central Licence. Registrations and licences issued on or after 1 April 2026 have perpetual validity. They stay valid unless suspended, cancelled or surrendered, and the fee can be paid for any number of years.

Under the FSS (Licensing & Registration) Amendment Regulations 2026 (Gazette 10.03.2026), licences and registrations are valid perpetually unless suspended, cancelled or surrendered. No renewal is needed, and FBOs can pay fees for any number of years at once (FSSAI FAQs, 27.03.2026). Existing FBOs will be given time to migrate to the new thresholds on FoSCoS, with no fee for migration. The older rule of choosing 1-5 years' validity is superseded for anything issued on or after 01.04.2026.

FSS Act 2006, Sec. 63: anyone who needs a licence and manufactures, sells, stores, distributes or imports food without one is punishable with imprisonment of up to 6 months and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. Sec. 64: repeat offences attract up to twice the punishment.

Who should apply

• Food manufacturers, processors, repackers and relabellers
• Restaurants, cafes, cloud kitchens, caterers, bakeries and sweet shops
• Home-based food businesses and home bakers
• Wholesalers, distributors, retailers and grocery stores
• E-commerce food sellers and marketplace FBOs (Central Licence)
• Importers and exporters of food products (Central Licence)
• Dairy, meat, fish, edible oil and packaged drinking water units
• Nutraceutical, health-supplement and proprietary-food brands (Central Licence)
• Transporters, cold storage and warehouses handling food

Benefits

Which one do you need?

Documents required

Basic Registration

• Photograph of the applicant
• Government-issued photo ID (Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID etc.)
• Proof of address of business activity (if different from photo-ID address)
• PAN - FSSAI order dated 13 Nov 2024 made PAN compliance mandatory for FSSAI licence/registration

Licence Non Manufacturing

• List of Directors/Partners/Proprietor/Executive Members with full address and contact details, with nomination of authorised signatory (on letterhead)
• Photo ID and address proof of Proprietor/Partner/Director/Authorised Signatory
• Proof of possession of premises (sale deed / rent agreement / electricity bill etc.)
• Partnership deed / self-declaration for proprietorship / MOA & AOA / Co-op certificate
• Form IX: nomination of person (not applicable to proprietor)
• Food services: water analysis report (chemical & bacteriological) if water is used as ingredient
• Importer / merchant-exporter: Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT; importer also Recall Plan
• Head office / e-commerce: Recall Plan
• Transporters: list of vehicle registration numbers

Licence Manufacturing Additional

• Blueprint/layout plan of the processing unit with dimensions and operation-wise area allocation
• Production unit photographs
• List of equipment and machinery with number, installed capacity and horsepower
• Water analysis report (chemical & bacteriological) from recognised/public health lab (if water used as ingredient)
• Recall Plan
• Dairy: milk source/procurement plan; Meat: source of raw material + municipal NOC; Slaughter house: municipal NOC
• Relabellers & repackers: NOC from manufacturers
• Nutraceuticals: product specification per schedule; Proprietary food: composition of each product; Novel food: product approval from FSSAI HQ
• Packaged drinking water: pesticide residue report of water, source of raw water and treatment plan

Note

• All documents to be self-attested by authorised signatory/proprietor (FSSAI order 19.03.2021). Form A = application for Registration; Form B = application for State/Central Licence (Schedule 2, FSS Licensing & Registration Regulations 2011).

How we get it done

1. 1
   Eligibility check: we identify your Kind of Business (KoB), turnover and state to decide Registration vs State vs Central.
2. 2
   Document checklist: we send a KoB-specific checklist and review your documents (layout plan, equipment list, water report etc. for manufacturers).
3. 3
   Drafting: we prepare the declarations, nominee Form IX, recall plan and authorised-signatory letter on your letterhead.
4. 4
   Filing on FoSCoS: we file Form A (Registration) or Form B (Licence) with the correct food product categories and premises details.
5. 5
   Fee payment: the government fee is paid on FoSCoS. For new licences FSSAI takes an initial application fee of Rs 1,000 + GST (as applicable) and collects the balance before grant.
6. 6
   Query handling: we reply to deficiency queries within the portal deadline. Applications not answered within 30 days are auto-rejected.
7. 7
   Inspection support: if the authority orders an inspection, we help you prepare using the Schedule 4 hygiene checklist.
8. 8
   Grant: we deliver the FSSAI certificate and explain label display, annual return (Form D-1 for manufacturers and importers) and other compliance.

Typical timeline: Registration: the Registering Authority must grant, reject or order inspection within 7 days of the application. If inspected, a decision follows within 30 days (Reg. 2.1.3, FSS Licensing & Registration Regulations 2011). Licence: if the licence is not issued within 60 days of a complete application, the applicant may start business (Reg. 2.1.6). FSSAI also offers 'Tatkal' (instant) issuance for eligible KoBs such as importer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer, transporter, storage, direct seller, petty retailer and hawker, subject to state restrictions. Realistic: Registration 7-15 days, State Licence 30-60 days, Central Licence 30-60 days, depending on queries and inspection.

Fees

Official FSSAI fee is per year: Registration Rs 100, State Licence Rs 5,000 (per the 01.04.2026 FoSCoS fee structure; historically Rs 2,000-5,000), Central Licence Rs 7,500. Fees are non-refundable (Schedule 3). Since 01.04.2026 licences and registrations are perpetual, and FBOs can choose to pay fees for any number of years at once (FSSAI FAQs 27.03.2026, Q5). Turnover thresholds changed on 01.04.2026 from the old Rs 12 lakh / Rs 20 crore to Rs 1.5 crore / Rs 50 crore. Do not publish the old thresholds. Scanned PDFs (initial fee order and licence document list) were read visually because they have no text layer. Government fees are paid to the authority at actuals, over and above our fee. Fees last checked: 28 Sep 2026 (official sources).

Frequently asked questions