Business ideas: investment under ₹2 lakh

Install, service and repair air conditioners and refrigerators at customers' homes and shops with a small team and a set of tools.

Make round and long cotton wicks for pooja lamps on a small machine at home, pack them in pouches and sell to pooja shops and wholesalers.

Fill online forms, deliver government and banking services as a Common Service Centre, and offer printing, scanning and internet access.

Buy fruit and vegetables from the mandi every morning and sell them from a small shop or stall in a residential area. Daily cash, daily wastage.

Make fashion jewellery by hand from beads, silk thread, terracotta or resin at home and sell online, at exhibitions and through boutiques.

Bake custom cakes, cupcakes, brownies and cookies to order from your home kitchen and sell through WhatsApp and Instagram.

Melt and mould compound chocolate into filled and flavoured pieces at home, pack them in gift boxes and sell for festivals and functions.

Send a trained team with machines to deep-clean homes, kitchens, bathrooms, sofas and offices, on single jobs and regular contracts.

Apply bridal and party mehendi at weddings, festivals and functions. Needs skill and practice, almost no money, and work comes by reference.

Grow oyster mushrooms on straw in hanging bags in a spare room or shed and sell them fresh to homes, vegetable shops and hotels.

Teach school or college subjects, languages or exam preparation over video calls from home, paid by the hour or by the month.

Stitch falls and do pico edging on new sarees for neighbours, saree shops and tailors from home with a sewing machine and a pico machine.

Sell notebooks, pens, school and office supplies, art material and gifts from a small shop near schools, colleges or offices.

Crush fresh sugarcane on an electric machine and sell chilled juice by the glass from a small shop or stall on a busy road.

Service and repair household RO water purifiers: change filters and membranes, fix leaks and pumps, and sell annual maintenance contracts.