A cloud kitchen in India needs five things on paper. An FSSAI licence or registration, a health and trade licence from your municipal body, and a fire NOC where the premises calls for one. Then shop and establishment registration, and GST once you cross the turnover limit.
The rules changed this year, and in your favour. Since 1 April 2026, a food business turning over up to ₹1.5 crore needs only FSSAI Registration rather than a State Licence. The old limit was ₹12 lakh.
Licences also stopped expiring. The renewal application is gone, though the annual fee is not.
Key Takeaways
- Five licences: FSSAI, health and trade, fire NOC, shop and establishment, GST
- FSSAI Registration now covers turnover to ₹1.5 crore, up from ₹12 lakh
- Licences from 1 April 2026 do not expire, though the fee remains
- GST starts at ₹20 lakh turnover, ₹10 lakh in special category states
- The old PFA clearance does not exist and has not since 2011
Which Licences Does a Cloud Kitchen Need in India?
A cloud kitchen has no dining room, but it is still a food business, so most of the same paperwork applies. The difference is scale, not category.
| Licence | Issued By | When You Need It |
|---|---|---|
| FSSAI registration or licence | FSSAI, via the FoSCoS portal | Always, before you cook a single order |
| Health and trade licence | Your municipal corporation | Always, tied to the premises |
| Fire NOC | State fire department | Depends on premises size and local rules |
| Shop and establishment registration | State labour department | Once you employ anyone |
| GST registration | GST department | Above ₹20 lakh turnover, or ₹10 lakh in some states |
Two of those are commonly delayed and should not be. The FSSAI number has to appear on your packaging and on the aggregator listing. The health and trade licence is tied to the kitchen address, so a change of premises means a fresh application.
What Changed for FSSAI on 1 April 2026?
This is the update that matters most, and plenty of guides still have the old numbers.
The Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Amendment Regulations came through the gazette on 10 March 2026 and took effect on 1 April. The turnover thresholds moved sharply upward.
| Category | Old Threshold | New Threshold From April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Up to ₹12 lakh | Up to ₹1.5 crore |
| State Licence | ₹12 lakh to ₹20 crore | ₹1.5 crore to ₹50 crore |
| Central Licence | Above ₹20 crore | Above ₹50 crore |
For a single-brand cloud kitchen this is a genuine saving. A kitchen billing ₹40 lakh a year sat in State Licence territory under the old rule. It now falls inside Registration, which is the cheapest and simplest tier.
The second change is validity. The Health Ministry confirmed that registrations and licences would carry perpetual validity, removing the repeated renewal cycle. A licence issued from 1 April 2026 stays valid until it is suspended, cancelled or surrendered. If yours predates that, check the expiry date printed on your certificate.
Read that carefully though. Perpetual validity removed the renewal form, not the annual fee. Miss the yearly payment and the licence can still be suspended, which leaves you trading without one.
For Registration, the paperwork is short. You will be asked for:
- A completed and signed Form B
- Proof of possession of the premises, such as a rent agreement
- Photo identity of the food business operator
- The list of food categories you intend to sell
- Your food safety management plan
A State Licence asks for more, including a kitchen layout, an equipment list and a water analysis report. That extra burden is exactly what the higher threshold now spares smaller kitchens.
One Kitchen, Several Brands
This is the question cloud kitchen owners ask most, and the answer is simpler than expected.
An FSSAI licence attaches to the premises and the business operating it, not to the brand name on the packaging. Four virtual brands cooking out of the same kitchen sit under one FSSAI number, so there is no need for four applications.
The condition is that every brand name is declared on the certificate. Adding a fifth brand later means updating the licence, not quietly listing it on the app.
Open a second kitchen at a different address and that changes. The new premises needs its own licence, even under the same company and the same brands. The same applies if a separate company cooks alongside you in a shared commissary, because the licence follows the operator as well as the address.
Turnover is what decides the category, and it is measured across the business rather than per brand. Two brands billing ₹90 lakh each put you well past the Registration ceiling, even though neither would on its own.
Applications go through the FoSCoS portal whichever tier you fall into, so the route in is the same for everyone.
Our walkthrough of the FoSCoS application steps covers the form and the documents, and the licence fees by type are set out separately.
Health, Trade and Fire Clearances
These come from local bodies rather than a national portal, so the detail shifts between cities.
The health and trade licence is issued by your municipal corporation and confirms the kitchen meets local hygiene rules. It is tied to the address, and inspectors do turn up. Expect to produce proof of possession, a landlord NOC where you rent, and utility bills.
Fire is the one people guess at. A fire NOC is not automatic for every cloud kitchen, and whether you need one turns on the premises size, the building category and your state’s rules. A small kitchen on a ground floor in Baner may fall outside it while a larger unit in the same city does not.
The honest answer is to ask your local fire office rather than copy what another kitchen did. Our guide to the fire, health and trade licences covers the documents and the usual costs.
When Do You Need Shop and Establishment Registration?
The moment you hire your first employee, this one applies.
Registration under your state’s Shops and Establishments Act records working hours, weekly offs, overtime and leave. Most states expect it within 30 days of starting operations. It is a labour department matter rather than a food safety one.
A kitchen run entirely by the owner may sit outside it, but that changes the day someone else joins the payroll. The shop and establishment process differs by state, so check your own.
When GST Registration Kicks In
Turnover decides this one, not the type of kitchen.
Registration becomes compulsory once annual turnover crosses ₹20 lakh, or ₹10 lakh in the special category states. Below that you can register voluntarily, and many kitchens do because aggregators and corporate clients ask for a GST invoice.
As an example, a two-brand cloud kitchen in Gachibowli billing ₹38 lakh across both brands is over the line, even though neither brand alone would be. The threshold applies to the registered person, not to each brand you list.
Once registered, restaurant service is taxed at 5% without input tax credit. The GST you pay on packaging, rent and commission stays a cost. Our note on GST registration for restaurants covers the process.
What Do You No Longer Need?
Two items appear on almost every cloud kitchen checklist online and neither belongs there.
The first is a clearance under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. That Act was repealed on 5 August 2011 under Section 97 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. There is nothing left to apply for, because FSSAI replaced it entirely.
The second is a general environmental clearance. That regime applies to specified categories of industrial project, and a delivery kitchen is not one of them. Your state pollution control board may still ask for a consent covering waste and effluent, which is a separate matter and worth checking locally.
Chasing certificates that do not exist wastes weeks. If a consultant quotes you for either, ask which regulation they are working from.
How Do You Keep Five Licences Straight?
Five licences, five different authorities, each with its own portal. Most carry a fee or a renewal to keep track of.
The failure mode is rarely the first application. It is the second year, when the FSSAI fee falls due, the trade licence needs renewing, and nobody owns the calendar. A suspended FSSAI licence pulls your listing off the aggregators, and that stops revenue the same day.
It helps to split the five by when they actually land, rather than treating them as one pile.
Keep scans of all five in one place with their dates, and put the annual fee dates in the same calendar as your GST returns. Our restaurant legal compliance checklist lists what to file and when.
On the operating side, a cloud kitchen POS holds the sales record those filings are built from. Turnover is what decides both your FSSAI category and your GST position. Our piece on POS for cloud kitchens covers the operational side.
Conclusion
Five licences, and for most new cloud kitchens the FSSAI one is now simpler than it was. Registration covers turnover up to ₹1.5 crore, and licences issued from 1 April 2026 do not expire.
The others have not moved. Health and trade from the municipal body, fire NOC where the premises requires it, shop and establishment once you employ anyone, and GST past ₹20 lakh.
Get all five before the first order rather than after, and diarise whatever falls due each year. If you are still at the planning stage, our guide to starting a cloud kitchen covers the rest of the setup, and a restaurant POS keeps the sales record your filings depend on. Rules change, so confirm your own position before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
The FSSAI one, yes. It has to be in place before a single order goes out, and the health and trade licence should be applied for alongside it. Shop and establishment follows your first hire, GST follows turnover, and a fire NOC depends on the premises.
Not any more. From 1 April 2026, a food business with turnover up to ₹1.5 crore needs only FSSAI Registration, which is the cheapest tier. The previous limit was ₹12 lakh, so many kitchens that once needed a State Licence no longer do.
No. Licences and registrations issued from 1 April 2026 stay valid until suspended, cancelled or surrendered, so there is no renewal application. The annual fee still has to be paid, and missing it can lead to suspension.
No. It depends on the size of the premises, the building category and your state’s rules, so a small ground-floor kitchen may fall outside the requirement while a bigger unit nearby does not. Check with your local fire office rather than assuming either way.
Registration is driven by your turnover, and becomes compulsory above ₹20 lakh, or ₹10 lakh in special category states. Many kitchens register below that anyway, because aggregators and corporate buyers expect a GST invoice.
