DMart franchise cost in 2026 is zero, because DMart does not sell franchises. All 500 stores (as of 31 March 2026) are owned and run by Avenue Supermarts Ltd. Any "franchise fee" quoted online or in a WhatsApp message is unofficial. The real ways in are leasing property to DMart or registering as a supplier on dmartindia.com.
Does DMart give franchises in India?
No. As of August 2026, DMart has no franchise programme of any kind; every store is company-owned and company-operated. Neither the annual reports nor any stock-exchange filing mentions a franchise channel, and Franchise India, which tracks this space closely, states plainly that DMart does not provide franchises.
This is not a gap DMart is planning to fill. The whole DMart model depends on not franchising. The company keeps prices low by owning most of its real estate (so no rent eats into margin), buying in bulk at a discount, paying suppliers quickly, and running lean stores with fast inventory turns. A franchisee needs a margin for themselves on top of that, which is exactly the margin DMart chooses to pass to the customer instead.
One nuance that confuses people: around 68 of the 500 stores (as of FY26) sit on long-term leased land or buildings. The property belongs to someone else, but the store is still run by Avenue Supermarts staff with Avenue Supermarts stock. A landlord is not a franchisee.
So if you are searching "dmart franchise apply" or "dmart ready franchise", there is no form to fill. DMart Ready, the online arm, is being consolidated rather than expanded in 2026 (more on that below), and it has never been franchised either.
What is the DMart business model?
DMart is the trade name of Avenue Supermarts Limited, a listed company (NSE: DMART, BSE: 540376, listed March 2017) that runs an everyday-low-price supermarket chain. The company was incorporated in 2000 and opened its first store in Powai, Mumbai, in 2002.
As of 2026 it operates in three formats:
| Format | Who runs it | What it is (as of 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| DMart stores | Avenue Supermarts Ltd | Large-format supermarkets, typically 30,000 to 60,000 sq ft; newer stores at the upper end |
| DMart Ready | Avenue E-Commerce Ltd (subsidiary) | Online grocery via app and dmart.in, with home delivery (fee applies) or free collection from pickup points |
| DMart miniMAX | Avenue E-Commerce Ltd | Small-format physical stores; 21 stores at the end of FY24 |
The stores sell groceries, staples, FMCG, home and personal care, kitchenware, apparel, toys, appliances and stationery. Private labels you will see on shelves and on DMart Ready include DMart Premia (staples), D Homes and Dutch Harbour. Note that "DMart miniMAX" is a store format, not a product brand, even though older articles list it as one. If you want a primer on how the FMCG supply chain behind those shelves works, read what FMCG actually means for a retailer.
The economics run in a loop: low prices bring footfall, footfall clears stock fast, fast turns and prompt payment earn better terms from suppliers, and those terms fund the next price cut. The FY26 result of this loop was revenue of roughly Rs 33,400 per sq ft.
The one part of the model under strain in 2026 is online. Quick-commerce players have changed what customers expect from delivery, and DMart Ready has responded by shrinking, not franchising. Avenue E-Commerce lost Rs 307 crore on Rs 4,094 crore of revenue in FY26, exited 7 cities in the April to June 2026 quarter, and now serves 11 cities (down from 18 in March 2026). The parent has approved up to Rs 500 crore of further funding, taking cumulative investment to about Rs 2,000 crore (Outlook Business, August 2026). Expect DMart Ready to keep running where it is dense and profitable, not to open partner-operated dark stores.
How much would a DMart-scale store cost to set up?
There is no official DMart franchise cost, because there is no franchise, so the only honest way to answer the money question is to describe what an independent supermarket of your own would need. Every "DMart franchise investment" figure circulating online is a third-party estimate, and the estimates disagree wildly: as of 2025-26 they range from Rs 15 to 30 lakh on one franchise portal to Rs 4.5 to 7 crore on another. Treat all of them as noise. The same goes for the "3-year payback" and the Rs 25,000 or Rs 10 lakh "franchise fee" that older articles (including an earlier version of this one) repeated; none of it had a source.
What we can say is where the money goes for an independent supermarket of 4,000 sq ft or more, which is a realistic neighbourhood format and nowhere near DMart's 30,000 to 60,000 sq ft footprint.
| Cost head | What decides the amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Premises | City, locality, ground-floor frontage, parking | Owned space changes the economics completely; rent is the line that sinks most independent supermarkets |
| Fit-out | Racking, chillers and freezers, billing counters, lighting, signage | Scales with floor area and with how much chilled or frozen stock you plan to carry |
| Opening inventory | Category mix, number of SKUs, supplier credit terms | Staples and FMCG need depth; general merchandise needs width |
| Working capital | Supplier payment cycles, staff salaries, electricity | Plan for several months of outflow before the store finds its rhythm |
| Licences and compliance | FSSAI registration or licence, GST, shops and establishment, trade licence, fire NOC | Fees vary by state and turnover; confirm with the local authority or a CA |
| Royalty | None | You are not a franchisee of anyone, so no recurring brand fee, but also no brand pull |
We have deliberately left the rupee column out. A setup number without a city, a floor plan and a supplier list is a guess, and guesses dressed up as franchise terms are how people lose deposits. Get two or three quotes from racking and refrigeration vendors in your own city, add your actual rent or land cost, and you will have a better figure than any article can give you.
How can you actually partner with DMart?
As of 2026, DMart's official partner page at dmartindia.com/partner-with-us offers exactly two tracks: landlord and supplier. Both are free to apply to. A third route, employment, is the only other legitimate way to be "inside" a DMart.
Route 1: lease or sell property to DMart
DMart historically prefers to buy land, but it is leasing more each year. About 15 of the 85 stores opened in FY26 were on long-term leases, total leased stores rose from 53 to about 68 in a year, and management has said leasing will grow in markets like NCR where buying land is hard. That is the opening for a property owner.
What DMart looks for, directionally (no official thresholds are published): a large plot or built-up space that can hold a store in the tens of thousands of square feet, good road frontage in a residential catchment, and room for parking. Small shop units are not what this form is for.
Steps:
- Go to dmartindia.com/partner-with-us and choose the landlord option (the URL carries
?format=landlord). - Have the basics ready: location with landmarks, plot or built-up area, ownership documents or title summary, whether you are offering sale or long-term lease, and current land use or zoning.
- Submit and wait. DMart's expansion is cluster-based; it fills in states where it already has stores rather than jumping to new ones. As of FY26 there is no presence in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Kerala or the North-East, so a property there is a longer shot.
- Any follow-up will come from the company. Nobody will ask you for a "processing fee" to evaluate your land.
Route 2: register as a supplier or vendor
The supplier form on the same page asks for your name, phone number and product category. Before you fill it in, get your paperwork in order, because a category buyer will ask for it at the first real conversation:
- GST registration in the name of the supplying entity.
- FSSAI licence if you make or pack anything edible.
- Evidence of capacity. DMart buys in volume and pays fast in return for price, so a supplier who can only fill one store's shelf for a week is not a fit. Start with a smaller chain or a distributor if that is where you are, and come back.
- Packaging, labelling and barcoding that meet legal standards for the category.
- Submit through the form only. There is no email shortcut that gets you ahead of the queue.
Suppliers of private-label goods (the Premia, D Homes and Dutch Harbour lines) go through the same door; there is no separate programme advertised.
Route 3: work at DMart
If the goal is to learn how a large-format store runs before opening your own, a store-level role teaches more than any franchise brochure. The company describes its core values as "action, care and truth" (ACT), and with 85 stores opened in FY26 and a stated target of around 15% annual store growth, hiring is continuous. Again, no agent fee is involved.
How big is DMart today?
As of 31 March 2026, DMart runs 500 stores (503 by 30 June 2026) across about 20.6 million sq ft, after adding 85 stores in FY26, 58 of them in the January to March quarter alone. The footprint covers roughly 15 states and union territories plus NCR: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Goa and Daman.
The money, from the audited FY26 results (year to 31 March 2026):
| Metric (FY26, as of 2026) | Standalone | Consolidated |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Rs 66,968 crore (+15.9%) | Rs 68,821 crore |
| Profit after tax | Rs 3,224 crore | Rs 2,970 crore |
The first quarter of FY27 (April to June 2026) kept pace: standalone revenue of Rs 18,343 crore (+15.1%) and profit after tax of Rs 860 crore.
Founder Radhakishan Damani placed sixth on Forbes India's Rich List 2025 (October 2025). On 1 February 2026 Anshul Asawa, formerly of Unilever, took over as Managing Director and CEO from Neville Noronha, who had led the company for about two decades. The registered office remains in Powai, Mumbai; the corporate office is at Wagle Industrial Estate, Thane.
One correction to the record: an earlier version of this post quoted DMart's FY21 revenue as Rs 300 billion. The company's own FY22 annual report puts FY21 standalone revenue at Rs 24,143 crore. The FY26 figure above is the one to use.
What are the alternatives if you want a supermarket franchise?
If what you actually want is a branded grocery store with someone else's name on the signboard, a few chains in India do take partners as of 2026, on very different terms from each other:
| Chain | Model (as of 2026) | Your side of the deal | Source quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| More Retail | Lease-only: you provide ground-floor property of 1,500 to 6,000 sq ft; More fits out and runs the store | Property, not capital or operations | Official partner page (more.in) |
| Spencer's Retail | Active franchise programme, present at 2026 franchise shows | Third-party estimates put investment at Rs 30 to 60 lakh; confirm directly | Franchise portals, unofficial figures |
| Reliance Smart Point | Partner or landlord model described by third-party guides, 500 to 2,000 sq ft | Third-party estimates of Rs 20 to 50 lakh; no official franchise page found | Unverified |
Only the More Retail page is an official source; treat the other two as leads to verify with the company, not as terms. And be suspicious of any portal that lists "D-Mart: 200+ franchised stores", because that number is invented.
The other path is the one most shopkeepers reading this already know: open an independent kirana or small supermarket under your own name. You keep every rupee of margin, you choose your own categories, and you are free to sell online through marketplaces or WhatsApp when you are ready (our guide on selling your products online covers the practical setup). The trade-off is that you also carry the udhar book, and that book is where independent stores quietly bleed. To track customer credit, a free khata app like OkCredit keeps every entry backed up and sends automatic payment reminders.
FAQs
Is DMart a franchise, and what does a DMart franchise cost?
No. As of August 2026, every DMart store is owned and operated by Avenue Supermarts Ltd. About 68 of the 500 stores are on leased property, but the store itself is still company-run. There is no franchise programme, and the company has never advertised one. So there is no DMart franchise cost either: figures such as Rs 25,000, Rs 10 lakh or "Rs 1.5 to 2 crore total investment" come from third-party articles and have no official basis. If someone quotes you a fee, it is not DMart.
How do I contact DMart for business?
The only official channel for property and supplier proposals is dmartindia.com/partner-with-us, which has a landlord form and a supplier form. The phone numbers on dmart.in (022-68120900 for western and northern states, 040-46911700 for the south, 7 am to 10 pm) and customerservice@dmart.in are DMart Ready customer-service lines, not a partnership desk. Investor queries go to investorrelations@dmartindia.com.
Who owns DMart, and how many stores does it have?
DMart is run by Avenue Supermarts Limited, founded by Radhakishan Damani, who ranked sixth on Forbes India's Rich List 2025. The company has been listed on NSE and BSE since March 2017, and Anshul Asawa has been MD and CEO since 1 February 2026. It had 500 stores as of 31 March 2026 and 503 as of 30 June 2026, across about 15 states and UTs plus NCR, after adding 85 stores in FY26; management targets roughly 15% annual store growth.
Why is DMart so cheap?
DMart owns most of its store real estate, so it pays no rent on those sites; it buys in bulk at a discount and pays suppliers quickly; and it runs lean, high-turnover stores. Those savings go into prices rather than into a franchisee's margin, which is also why it does not franchise.
How do I spot a fake DMart franchise offer?
Any website, social-media page or caller offering a DMart franchise is fraudulent, because no such product exists. The usual pattern is a "registration" or "processing" fee of anywhere from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh (as reported in 2025-26), often with a convincing fake site. DMart's only partner channel is dmartindia.com, the official landlord and supplier forms are free to submit, and the company has itself warned about fake DMart websites and offers. Do not pay anyone.
