Ask Veda
Chemicals and cosmetics are tightly regulated: manufacturing and import licences, pollution consent and product standards all come before the first sale.
What each registration is, who issues it and when it applies to a chemicals or cosmetics business. Rules vary by state and by size — treat this as the map, and ask us about your exact case.
Mandatory · CBIC
Required once aggregate turnover crosses the threshold — ₹40 lakh for goods and ₹20 lakh for services in most states — and in some cases from the first sale, such as most inter-state supplies of goods.
For manufacturing · State PCB
Industrial units need the state pollution control board's Consent to Establish before construction and Consent to Operate before production. The Red, Orange, Green or White category of your industry decides the process and validity; White-category units are generally exempt.
To make cosmetics · State licensing authority
Making cosmetics for sale — including loan or contract manufacture — needs a licence from the state licensing authority under the Cosmetics Rules 2020, with an approved manufacturing premises and a qualified technical person.
To import cosmetics · CDSCO
Every cosmetic imported for sale in India must be registered with CDSCO under the Cosmetics Rules 2020 before the first consignment lands.
For chemicals under a Quality Control Order
Products covered by a Quality Control Order cannot be made, imported or sold without a BIS licence.
To export chemicals with benefits
Membership of the Basic Chemicals, Cosmetics & Dyes Export Promotion Council — the RCMC chemical and cosmetics exporters need for export benefits.
For packaged products
Manufacturers, packers and importers of pre-packaged goods must register under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 and print the mandatory declarations — MRP, net quantity, manufacturer or importer details and consumer-care contact — on every pack.
Some registrations need another one first — this is the sequence that avoids rework.
After the registrations come the returns and filings that keep you compliant.
GST returns, bookkeeping, TDS and annual filings — everything a business like yours has to keep doing, in one place.
See the compliance pack →What people starting a chemicals or cosmetics business ask us most.
Yes, under a loan licence or through a licensed contract manufacturer. The product must be made in licensed premises and labelled as the Cosmetics Rules require.
Yes — every imported cosmetic must be registered with CDSCO before import.
Many industrial chemicals are, and the list keeps growing. Check whether yours is covered before manufacture or import.
Every sector, with its own checklist.
A CA or CS confirms which of these apply to you, in your state, and handles the ones we cover.