Business Licences Required in India

Every business in India needs at minimum: GST Registration (if turnover exceeds ₹20–40 lakhs), Shop & Establishment Registration (for any commercial premises), PAN and TAN of the business, and Trade Licence from the local municipal body. Additional licences depend on your industry — FSSAI for food, Drug Licence for pharma, IEC for export/import, Fire NOC for hospitality and so on. Use our Licence Finder above to get the complete list for your industry.

Not every business needs a specific industry licence, but all businesses need basic registrations — GST (if above threshold), Shop & Establishment Registration and PAN/TAN. Businesses in regulated sectors like food, pharma, finance, chemicals, construction and hospitality have additional mandatory licences that must be obtained before operations begin.

An e-commerce business in India needs: GST Registration (mandatory for all online sellers regardless of turnover), Company or business registration (Pvt Ltd recommended), Shop & Establishment Registration, FSSAI licence if selling food, Drug Licence if selling medicines or cosmetics, and IEC if importing or exporting. Amazon and Flipkart also require Trademark Registration for Brand Registry access.

FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) licence is mandatory for any business that manufactures, processes, packages, sells, imports or distributes food products. Basic Registration is for turnover below ₹12 lakhs; State Licence for ₹12 lakhs to ₹20 crores; Central Licence for above ₹20 crores or multi-state operations. TAXAJ handles all three types of FSSAI registration.

A restaurant or food business needs: FSSAI Licence (mandatory), GST Registration, Shop & Establishment Registration, Trade Licence from local municipal body, Fire NOC, Eating House Licence (Delhi, Maharashtra, Bangalore), Health/Sanitation NOC, Liquor Licence if serving alcohol, and Music Licence (PPL/IPRS) if playing music. TAXAJ handles all these licences end-to-end.

A Trade Licence (also called Shop Licence or Business Licence) is issued by the local municipal authority (MCD in Delhi, BBMP in Bangalore, PMC in Pune) and allows a business to operate from specific premises. It must be renewed annually. All businesses with a physical address need a Trade Licence — shops, offices, restaurants, factories and warehouses.

Yes. TAXAJ is a one-stop shop for all business licences and registrations in India. From company registration to GST, FSSAI, Trade Licence, IEC, Fire NOC, Drug Licence, EPF, ESIC, MSME and Trademark — our CA and CS team handles everything. We also identify which licences you actually need based on your industry, state and business model, so you don't over-register or miss mandatory ones.