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Project report guide · Trading and retail

Project report for a trading or retail business: what banks expect

Trading, wholesale and retail businesses connect manufacturers with buyers. They hold stock close to the market, extend credit to customers and handle the logistics of supply.
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In this guide

  • How the unit works, step by step
  • Inputs, utilities and approvals
  • Customers, staff and risks
  • The 24 sections of a bank-format DPR
  • A worked cost of project (illustrative)
  • 9 open Haryana and Central schemes

What the bank reads first

A bank or a subsidy department reads a project report for a trading or retail business to answer three questions: does the promoter understand how the business works, do the costs and projections hang together, and can the loan be repaid from the cash the unit earns. This guide sets out what such a report covers for this sector, in the order of the 24-section bank format our free DPR builder produces.

The sector notes below come from the library our DPR builder uses to write the descriptive sections of a report. They describe how such a unit usually works; they carry no market size, growth rate or typical cost, because those have to come from the promoter's own enquiries and quotations. The schemes are taken from our catalogue, open on the date the page was built, and are named with each scheme's own ceiling.

The sector in brief

Profitability depends on trade margins, inventory turnover, credit terms with suppliers and customers, and the control of working capital.

How the work is done

The process the “Products and Process” section of the report describes, in order.

  1. Selection of product lines and appointment as dealer or distributor where applicable.
  2. Purchase of stock from manufacturers and authorised distributors.
  3. Receipt, inspection and storage of stock in the shop or godown.
  4. Sales to customers through the counter, field sales and orders.
  5. Delivery, billing and collection of receivables.

Stock will be bought from authorised sources, checked on receipt and rotated so that older stock is sold first, with proper records of purchases, sales and stock.

Raw materials and utilities

Typical inputs: no raw materials; the business buys finished goods for resale.

Goods will be bought from manufacturers and authorised distributors on agreed credit terms.

  • Electricity for the shop, godown and lighting.
  • Internet connectivity for billing and orders.

Approvals the report should name

In addition to Udyam, GST and the power and local-body approvals for the premises. Typically required where applicable; whether each applies depends on the size, location and activity, and is to be confirmed for the project.

  • Shops and establishments registration under the State law.
  • Trade licence from the municipal body or panchayat.
  • Licences specific to the goods traded (for example food, drugs or fertilisers), where applicable.

Market, customers and staff

Customers
Retailers, institutional buyers and consumers in the catchment area.
How it sells
The shop and godown, field sales, telephone and online orders, and supply to institutions.
What wins orders
Customers choose on the range of products, availability, price, credit and service.
Employment profile
The staff will include sales staff, store and godown helpers, a delivery person and staff for billing and accounts.

Risks a lender will ask about

The risks the sector library gives the SWOT section of the report, each with the way the project handles it.

Sector risks and how they are handled
RiskHow the project handles it
Slow-moving stockStock monitoring and order planning based on sales.
Delay in collections from customersCredit limits and regular follow-up.
Competition from larger and online sellersService, availability and local relationships.

Opportunities the report can point to

  • Growing demand in the catchment area.
  • Adding product lines and dealerships over time.
  • Online ordering and delivery to widen the customer base.

The 24 sections of a bank-format DPR

The structure our free DPR builder produces for every sector, after the cover page and contents.

The project and the promoter

Who is setting up the unit, what it will make or sell, how the work is done, where the inputs come from, who will buy, where the unit sits and how long it takes to start. A banker reads these first to judge whether the promoter understands the business.

  1. 1. Project at a Glance
  2. 2. Promoter & Enterprise Profile
  3. 3. The Project
  4. 4. Industry Overview
  5. 5. Products and Process
  6. 6. Raw Materials and Utilities
  7. 7. Market and Marketing Strategy
  8. 8. Location and Infrastructure
  9. 9. Implementation Schedule

The money

What the project costs, how it is paid for, the assumptions behind the projections, the yearly profit, cash flow and balance sheet, the loan repayment schedule, and the ratios a lender looks at: debt service coverage, break-even and the key indicators. Every figure flows from the cost of project and the assumptions, so they must agree with each other.

  1. 10. Cost of Project
  2. 11. Means of Finance
  3. 12. Key Assumptions
  4. 13. Projected Profitability Statement
  5. 14. Term Loan Repayment Schedule
  6. 15. Depreciation Schedule
  7. 16. Projected Cash Flow Statement
  8. 17. Projected Balance Sheet
  9. 18. Debt Service Coverage Ratio
  10. 19. Break-Even Analysis
  11. 20. Key Financial Indicators

Risks, approvals and support

An honest SWOT, the licences and registrations the activity needs, the government incentives the unit may claim (named, not counted as income), and a conclusion that states the result of the projections without overstating them.

  1. 21. SWOT Analysis
  2. 22. Statutory Approvals and Registrations
  3. 23. Applicable Government Incentives
  4. 24. Conclusion

Worked example: cost of project and means of finance

Illustrative only. The cost lines are assumptions chosen to show how the statement is built, not typical costs for the sector; the totals, contingency, loan and repayment figures are computed by the same arithmetic as our free DPR builder.

Illustrative cost of project in rupees lakh
Landnone assumed
Building and civil worksnone assumed
Equipment (billing, weighing, cold display)₹5.00 lakh
Racks, fixtures and fit-out₹15.00 lakh
Contingency (5% of building and machinery)₹0.25 lakh
Pre-operative expenses₹2.00 lakh
Margin money for working capital₹30.00 lakh
Cost of project₹52.25 lakh
Term loan (assumed 70% of the cost)₹36.58 lakh
Promoter's contribution₹15.67 lakh
Monthly principal instalment (78 instalments after a 6-month moratorium)₹0.47 lakh
Interest in the first year at 10%₹3.60 lakh

Haryana and Central schemes that may apply

Open schemes an individual unit can claim, tagged in our catalogue for the trading and retail sector, named with each scheme's own ceiling. Whether a unit qualifies depends on its activity, size, location and stage; the eligibility checker tests that and also covers Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Loans and credit guarantees (2)

Not subsidies: they make the bank loan easier to get and can sit alongside the incentives.

Only if the activity matches (5)

Tagged for this sector in our catalogue but limited to a narrower activity; the condition is shown under each.

  • HaryanaHaryana State Startup Policy 2022

    Seed grant up to ₹10 lakh; Net SGST 50% (women-led 100%) for 7 years; patent costs up to ₹25 lakh

    Only if: Only DPIIT-recognised startups registered with Startup Haryana whose registered office is in Haryana (Category 1): a private limited company, registered partnership or LLP up to 10 years old, with turnover never above ₹100 crore, working on innovation.

    Check status: The Supplement of 30 September 2026 added new incentives (technology transfer, micro-grants for women-led startups, exhibitions, quality certification, corporate pilots, seed-fund matching, apprenticeships). Operational schemes for these new items were not on the Department’s website when checked on 20 October 2026, and the Supplement does not say whether it restarts the policy’s five-year term. Confirm with our expert team before applying.

    Official source

  • CentralCredit Guarantee Scheme for Startups

    Guarantee on loans up to ₹20 Crore per startup (85% cover up to ₹10 Crore, 75% above)

    Only if: Only for startups recognised by DPIIT.

    Official source

  • CentralEmergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme 5.0

    Extra credit up to 20% of peak Q4 FY26 working capital use, capped at ₹100 Crore, 100% guaranteed, nil fee

    Only if: Only for borrowers that already had a working capital limit with a bank or NBFC, with the account standard on 31 March 2026.

    Check status: Guarantees are given first come, first served within the scheme's overall cap of ₹2.50 lakh crore (NCGTC, 18 August 2026), and lenders can sanction only until 31 March 2027. Ask your bank whether cover is still available before you apply.

    Official source

  • CentralExport Promotion Mission – Interest Subvention on Pre- and Post-Shipment Export Credit

    2.75% a year on rupee export credit, up to ₹50 lakh per exporter a year

    Only if: Only for MSME exporters with an active IEC and Udyam registration, and only on export credit for products whose six-digit HSN tariff line is on the DGFT positive list.

    Check status: DGFT issued these guidelines as a pilot and reviews the rates every six months, so the 2.75% rate and the list of eligible products can change. Check the latest DGFT trade notice before relying on them.

    Official source

  • CentralInternational Cooperation Scheme – Capacity Building of First Time MSE Exporters (CBFTE)

    75% of RCMC fee up to ₹20,000; ECGC premium up to ₹10,000 a year; 75% of testing/certification up to ₹1 lakh

    Only if: Only for micro and small exporters whose Import Export Code was not more than three years old on the date of the export shipment, and who exported in the same financial year.

    Check status: The International Cooperation Scheme was approved for 2021-22 to 2025-26 (to 31 March 2026). A Ministry of MSME memo of 2 April 2026 cites temporary continuation of schemes beyond 31 March 2026, up to 30 September 2026 or until the next scheme is approved, whichever is earlier; when we checked on 20 October 2026 we found no extension beyond that. The IC portal is still active (the Ministry invited trade-fair proposals in October 2026), but we saw no recent notice for this first-time-exporter component, so check with your Export Promotion Council before relying on it.

    Official source

Support for particular costs (2)

Each covers one kind of cost (certification, testing, solar, insurance, fairs and similar) with its own application.

  • HaryanaHaryana E-Commerce Support for MSEs 2026

    75% of platform fees — up to ₹2 Lakh/yr (exporters) or ₹1 Lakh/yr (domestic), for 5 years

    Official source

  • CentralMSME Innovative Scheme – IPR Reimbursement (Patent, Trademark, Design)

    100% of registration cost: up to ₹5 lakh per foreign patent, ₹1 lakh per Indian patent, ₹15,000 per design, ₹10,000 per trademark

    Check status: The MSME Innovative Scheme is part of MSME Champions, approved for 2021-22 to 2025-26 (to 31 March 2026). A Ministry of MSME memo of 2 April 2026 cites temporary continuation of schemes beyond 31 March 2026, up to 30 September 2026 or until the next scheme is approved, whichever is earlier; when we checked on 20 October 2026 we found no extension beyond that. The IPR reimbursement portal is still active, so confirm there before you rely on reimbursement.

    Official source

Planning a manufacturing unit in Haryana? See what the 2026 policy could pay by project size and area category and the subsidy stacking blueprints.

Questions about a project report for a trading or retail business

What does a bank look for in a project report for a trading or retail business?

A complete bank-format report in which the description and the figures agree. For a trading or retail business the descriptive part should walk through the process (selection of product lines and appointment as dealer or distributor where applicable, through to delivery, billing and collection of receivables), the inputs (no raw materials; the business buys finished goods for resale), the utilities and the approvals. The financial part then shows the cost of project, means of finance, projected profitability, cash flow, balance sheet, loan repayment, debt service coverage and break-even. Customers choose on the range of products, availability, price, credit and service.

Which licences and approvals does a trading or retail business usually need?

Besides Udyam registration, GST registration where turnover or the type of supply requires it, and the power and local-body approvals for the premises, the sector notes in our DPR library list: Shops and establishments registration under the State law; Trade licence from the municipal body or panchayat; Licences specific to the goods traded (for example food, drugs or fertilisers), where applicable. These are typically required where applicable; whether each applies depends on the size, location and activity of the project, and our expert team confirms it for a specific unit.

What risks will a lender ask about for a trading or retail business?

Slow-moving stock, met by stock monitoring and order planning based on sales; Delay in collections from customers, met by credit limits and regular follow-up. A report that names its risks and shows how each is handled reads as more credible than one that lists only strengths, and the same points feed the SWOT section of the DPR.

Which Haryana and Central schemes may apply to a trading or retail business?

Our catalogue lists nine open Haryana and Central schemes tagged for the trading and retail sector, mainly loan and credit guarantee schemes such as Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Whether a unit qualifies depends on its activity, size, location and stage, so run the eligibility checker before counting on any of them; Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh schemes are matched there too.

Are the cost figures on this page typical for the sector?

No. They are assumed lines put through the same cost and loan arithmetic as our free DPR builder, to show how the statement is built: contingency at 5% of building and machinery, a term loan of 70% of the cost, 10% interest over 7 years with a 6-month moratorium. Your own report should use your quotations, rent or land figures and the bank's terms.

Can I prepare the project report myself?

Yes. The free DPR builder asks for the project details and costs, pre-fills the trading and retail sector's descriptive text, and produces all 24 sections with the projections, which you can download in Word, PDF or Excel. Before it goes to a bank or a department it should be reviewed by a Chartered Accountant; our expert team can review it or prepare it with you.

Official sources this page relies on

The notifications our catalogue read each listed scheme from, and the registration every scheme asks for. The sector notes above are our own and carry no official figure.

Page checked on 10 November 2026.

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