Get permission to park before you build the truck: the city's parking and vending rules decide where you can sell, and a food truck nobody can find makes nothing. Modifying a vehicle into a kitchen also needs approval from the RTO, and a gas cylinder on board needs the fire rules followed. FSSAI treats a mobile food business as a food vending establishment: a Registration at Rs 100 a year up to Rs 1.5 crore turnover. Add your municipality's licence, free Udyam registration, and GST once turnover crosses the threshold. A MUDRA loan can fund the vehicle and kitchen, Tarun Plus going up to Rs 20 lakh. Keep the menu to a few items you can serve fast, and list on Zomato and Swiggy for evenings when you park in one spot. What kills most food trucks is being moved on: build relationships with office parks, colleges and event organisers who will give you a regular, legal spot.
The FSSAI's current table of which food business needs which licence and what it costs a year, revised from 1 April 2026: most businesses up to Rs 1.5 crore turnover need only a Registration at Rs 100, a State Licence costs Rs 5,000 up to Rs 50 crore, and a Central Licence Rs 7,500 above that. Importers, merchant exporters and businesses registered as e-commerce need a Central Licence whatever their size, and hawkers pay nothing.
The four MUDRA loan bands for a micro business, given through banks and NBFCs: Shishu up to Rs 50,000, Kishore up to Rs 5 lakh, Tarun up to Rs 10 lakh and Tarun Plus up to Rs 20 lakh.
This is the plain-language answer to "do I have to register yet." It lays out the 40 lakh goods / 20 lakh services limits, the lower special-category-state limits, and a state-by-state table so you can check your own state instead of guessing. It also lists the 11 categories (interstate supply, e-commerce sellers, casual and non-resident taxable persons) where registration is mandatory from rupee one, which is the trap most first-time founders miss.
From
ClearTaxby ClearTax Editorial Team12 min read
Standard limits are 40 lakh turnover for goods and 20 lakh for services, dropping to 20/10 lakh in special category states, computed on aggregate turnover across the same PAN.
Interstate supply and selling on marketplaces like Amazon or Flipkart force registration regardless of turnover, so "I'm still small" does not exempt you.
Aggregate turnover counts taxable, exempt, export and interstate supplies together, so businesses often cross the line sooner than they expect.
The government's only portal for registering a micro, small or medium enterprise. It states registration is free and lists the revised limits: a micro enterprise has investment up to ₹2.5 crore and turnover up to ₹10 crore, a small one up to ₹25 crore and ₹100 crore.
Zomato's own sign-up page for restaurants and home kitchens, listing what you need to go live: PAN, GST number if applicable, FSSAI licence, bank details and your menu.
