Slipper (Hawai Chappal) Making Business
चप्पल बनाने का व्यवसाय · चप्पल उद्योग
Cut soles from rubber or EVA sheets on a small press, fit straps and sell hawai chappals to footwear shops and weekly-market traders.
Investment
₹3.3 lakh
Profit a month*
₹23,000
- Space
- 300 sq ft
- Staff
- 2 + you
*Operating profit before the loan instalment in year 2, at the assumed sales level. Change the assumptions in the calculator below.
A slipper unit buys ready rubber or EVA sole sheets and straps, cuts soles to size with dies on a manual or hydraulic press, drills strap holes, smooths the edges and fits the straps. The machines are cheap and small enough for a room at home, and the work is learnt in days. Hawai chappals are everyday footwear for a large part of the country, so demand is wide and steady. Each pair earns only a few rupees, so income depends on selling hundreds of pairs a day through wholesalers and market traders. The hard parts are very tight prices, sheet quality that varies between suppliers, and low-cost factory-made slippers from large footwear clusters.
Skills needed: No formal qualification. Careful cutting to reduce sheet waste and neat finishing matter. Selling to wholesalers is the real skill.
Profit calculator
Change the numbers to match your town220 pair/day: Hawai chappal (pair)
Total investment
₹3.33 lakh
Your own money
₹33,341
Subsidy
—
Bank loan
₹3 lakh
Mudra Kishore
A typical month in year 2
| Sales | ₹2,47,500 |
| Raw material & packing | −₹1,89,750 |
| Electricity | −₹1,712 |
| Salaries | −₹21,000 |
| Rent | −₹6,300 |
| Other running costs | −₹5,250 |
| Operating profit | ₹23,488 |
| Loan instalment (EMI) | −₹6,997 |
| You keep each month | ₹16,491 |
After the loan is repaid, the EMI becomes your income too. Your own salary is not counted as a cost: the profit is your income.
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Turn these numbers into a full project report: cost of project, means of finance, 5-year profit and loss, balance sheet, repayment schedule, DSCR and break-even.
Make my project reportInvestment breakdown
| Machinery & equipment | Price |
|---|---|
| Hydraulic sole cutting machine1.5 HP, single phase | ₹45,000₹35,000–₹65,000 |
| Manual strap fitting and drilling machine | ₹12,000₹7,500–₹15,000 |
| Cutting dies for sizes 5–10 and children's sizes | ₹25,000 |
| Edge grinding / buffing machine | ₹12,000 |
| Work tables and storage racks | ₹15,000 |
| Sole printing machineadd-onFor printed designs and brand name | ₹60,000 |
| Machinery & equipment (without add-ons) | ₹1,09,000 |
| Udyam and other registrations | ₹2,000 |
| Electricity wiring | ₹6,000 |
| Trial sheets and samples | ₹5,000 |
| Working capital 15 days of raw material, 15 days of credit to buyers, 1 month of expenses | ₹2,11,413 |
| Total project cost | ₹3,33,413 |
Typical market prices as of October 2026, from supplier listings. Prices vary by brand, capacity and city; always get 2–3 quotes.
Cost and margin per unit
| Hawai chappal (pair) (per pair) | ₹ |
|---|---|
| Sole sheet (one ₹320 sheet gives about 12 pairs) | 27.00 |
| Straps | 6.00 |
| Polybag and bundle packing | 1.50 |
| Material cost | 34.50 |
| Selling price | 45.00 |
| Margin before running costs | 10.50 (23%) |
Wholesale rate; listings show ₹40–80 a pair. Pairs per sheet depend on sheet size and the sizes you cut, so check with a trial sheet.
Space, power and staff
300 sq ft
At home · rent ≈ ₹6,000/month
A room at home or a small rented room in a small town. Sheets need flat, dry storage.
2 kW, single-phase
Bill ≈ ₹2,500/month at full capacity
2 staff + you
- 2 × Cutting and fitting workers: ₹10,000
Licences and registrations
Udyam registration
recommendedWhen: Before applying for a loan · Cost: Free
Apply only on udyamregistration.gov.in.
GST registration
if applicableWhen: When turnover crosses the registration limit, or wholesalers want tax invoices · Cost: Free
Confirm the current GST rate for low-priced footwear with a CA; footwear rates were revised in 2025.
BIS quality control order for footwear
if applicableWhen: Check before you start · Cost: Varies
Quality control orders make BIS certification compulsory for many footwear types, with relaxations for micro and small units that have changed over time. Confirm the current position for your unit with BIS or the district industries centre.
Shop and Establishment registration
if applicableWhen: When you rent premises or hire staff · Cost: Small fee; varies by state
How it works
- Mark and cut soles from the sheet with the size dies, nesting them to reduce waste.
- Drill the three strap holes.
- Smooth the edges on the grinder.
- Fit straps and check each pair for size match.
- Pair, pack in polybags and bundle by size.
Loan route
Mudra loan (Kishore)
Own money ₹33,341 · Loan ₹3 lakh · EMI ≈ ₹6,997
No collateral, no subsidy.
How Mudra worksPMEGP (new units)
Subsidy ₹50,012 (general, urban) to ₹1.17 lakh (special category, rural). EMI ≈ ₹5,830–₹4,664.
Own money 5–10%. Subsidy is held as a 3-year deposit, then adjusted against the loan.
How PMEGP worksAssumes 10.5% interest, 5 years including a 6-month moratorium. PMEGP was approved up to FY 2025-26. Check on the KVIC PMEGP portal that applications are open before you plan around the subsidy.
No collateral and no third-party guarantee (covered by the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units).
Who buys and how to sell
Buyers
- Footwear wholesalers
- Weekly-market (haat) traders and hawkers
- Footwear and general shops in villages
- Bulk buyers such as institutions and charities
Ways to sell
- Bulk supply to wholesalers by the dozen
- Direct supply to market traders
- Shop-to-shop sales in nearby villages
Season: Sells all year; higher in summer and the monsoon, and before festivals and fairs.
Competition: Large footwear clusters supply very cheap slippers nationwide. A small unit competes locally on fresh stock, credit and sizes that sell in its area.
Risks and how to handle them
Prices are so tight that waste wipes out the margin
Plan die layouts to get the most pairs from each sheet and sell offcuts.
Poor sheet or strap quality brings returns
Buy from two or three known suppliers and test a pair from every lot.
Wholesalers delay payment
Limit credit, spread sales across several buyers and include cash-paying market traders.
Machine-seller training and buy-back offers that do not hold
Find your own buyers first; do not depend on the seller's promises.
Tips from the trade
- Sizes 6 to 9 make up most sales; do not overstock extreme sizes.
- Printed and coloured designs earn a few rupees more per pair.
- Visit the nearest wholesale footwear market to see the going rate before pricing.
Questions people ask
Can I start with a manual machine?+
Yes. Manual presses are listed from about ₹7,500, but they are slow and tiring. A hydraulic cutter is the usual choice once you supply wholesalers.
Where do sole sheets and straps come from?+
From footwear raw-material traders in major footwear markets and through online B2B listings. Buy a small trial lot first to check hardness and thickness.
How much investment is needed to start a slipper (hawai chappal) making business?+
About ₹3.33 lakh for a small unit: ₹1.09 lakh for machinery and equipment, ₹13,000 for set-up costs and ₹2.11 lakh as working capital (stock, credit to buyers and one month of expenses). Prices as of October 2026.
How much profit can a slipper (hawai chappal) making business make per month?+
At 55% of capacity, sales are about ₹2.48 lakh a month and operating profit about ₹23,488 before the loan instalment. After an EMI of about ₹6,997, the owner keeps about ₹16,491 a month until the loan is repaid. These are estimates; your prices, rent and sales decide the real figure.
Which machines are needed for slipper (hawai chappal) making?+
Hydraulic sole cutting machine (₹35,000–₹65,000); Manual strap fitting and drilling machine (₹7,500–₹15,000); Edge grinding / buffing machine (about ₹12,000).
Can I get a Mudra loan or PMEGP subsidy for slipper (hawai chappal) making?+
With a project cost of about ₹3.33 lakh, the bank loan of about ₹3 lakh falls under Mudra Kishore. Mudra has no subsidy. As a new unit you may instead apply under PMEGP, where the subsidy is 15–35% of the project cost (up to about ₹1.17 lakh here for a special-category applicant in a rural area). PMEGP was approved up to FY 2025-26. Check on the KVIC PMEGP portal that applications are open before you plan around the subsidy.
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Sources
- IndiaMART: Sigmatech Engineering slipper making machines
- IndiaMART: Narayan Enterprises (manual chappal machines)
- IndiaMART: M.N. Engineering (hawai chappal machines)
- IndiaMART: Palash Overseas (slipper raw material)
- Udyam Registration
Prices as of October 2026. Prices here come from online listings and published guides and have not yet been confirmed with local suppliers. Profit figures are estimates from the assumptions above, not a promise of income.
Spotted an outdated price? Tell us. Data for this page: HowIndiaEarns.