Amul Franchise Cost in India: What Each of the Four Formats Really Costs

An Amul franchise costs roughly ₹1.85 lakh to ₹5.5 lakh to set up in India, depending on which of Amul's four formats you take, and that figure excludes the shop itself. Amul's own franchise page puts the range at ₹1.5 lakh to ₹6 lakh for interiors and equipment, with no royalty and no revenue share. The cheapest route is the standard Amul Parlour: a ₹25,000 refundable deposit, about ₹80,000 of renovation and about ₹80,000 of equipment in a 100 to 150 sq ft shop. The scooping parlour, the format most people picture, adds up to about ₹5 lakh before rent. Amul says a typical outlet turns over ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh a month, depending on location.

We rebuilt those totals line by line from the requirements GCMMF, Amul's marketing federation, lists for each format on amul.com. Here is what the brand actually asks for.

Amul's four franchise formats, costed from its own requirement lists

Format	Refundable deposit	Fit-out / stall	Equipment	Our total (excl. property)	Space
Amul Parlour (APO)	₹25,000	~₹80,000 renovation	~₹80,000	~₹1.85 lakh	100–150 sq ft
Amul Scooping Parlour	₹50,000	~₹3,00,000 interiors	~₹1,50,000	~₹5 lakh	250–400 sq ft
Centres of Excellence parlour	₹50,000	₹2.5–4 lakh stall	~₹50,000	~₹3.5–5 lakh	Allotted by the institution
Railway stall / parlour	₹1,00,000	₹2.5–4 lakh stall	~₹50,000	~₹4–5.5 lakh	Allotted by the railways

The totals column is our own addition of Amul's published line items. None of the four includes the shop deposit, the rent, or working capital, and Amul says so explicitly on the page. For the two institutional formats, you also pay the host organisation's security deposit and licence fees on GCMMF's behalf, which Amul lists as the operator's liability without putting a number on it.

Why the scooping parlour costs nearly three times the basic parlour

The gap is almost entirely fit-out and kit. A basic Amul Parlour is a grocery-style counter: a deep freezer for ice cream, a visicooler for dairy products, a milk cooler and a pizza oven for frozen pizza. The scooping parlour is a small dessert shop. Its equipment list adds a scooping cabinet with steel bowls, a mixer-grinder, a waffle cone machine, a topping tray for sauces and a POS machine, which is why equipment roughly doubles to ₹1.5 lakh. Interiors jump from about ₹80,000 to about ₹3 lakh because the space is larger, 250 to 400 sq ft against 100 to 150, and has to be finished to Amul's standard design. In return, Amul adds things the basic parlour doesn't get: sundae recipes, training for the owner or staff, and LED rather than backlit signage. If you already own a small shopfront in a residential lane, the basic parlour is the rational starting point. The scooping format only earns back its extra ₹3 lakh or so where there is evening and weekend walk-in traffic that will buy shakes and sundaes, not just milk and butter.

What you don't pay, and what you still carry

Amul charges no franchise fee in the usual sense. The deposits are refundable, and the page lists "no profit sharing / no royalty" for every format. Stock comes through Amul's wholesale dealers, and you keep the retail margin, which Amul says varies by product. It also lists a subsidy on equipment and branding, free signage, an additional purchase discount and inauguration support.

What stays with you is spelled out just as plainly: staff salaries, electricity and shop rent all come out of your gross margin.

That matters more than the setup bill.

Here is an illustration, not an Amul figure. Amul doesn't publish a blended margin on its current page. If a parlour turned over ₹5 lakh in a month, the bottom of Amul's stated range, every percentage point of blended margin is worth ₹5,000. At a 10% blend that is ₹50,000 of gross margin before rent, wages and a freezer-heavy power bill. Your product mix decides the rest, since packaged milk and scooped ice cream sit at very different margins.

The deposit scam that keeps borrowing Amul's name

Amul's name has long been bait for franchise fraud. In January 2019, GCMMF filed a police complaint and sent a legal notice to Google India over paid search ads for terms like "Amul Franchisee" and "Amul Parlor", Business Standard reported. Victims were asked for a "registration fee" of ₹25,000 to ₹5 lakh, and then the callers vanished. GCMMF's then managing director, R S Sodhi, said some had paid ₹3 to 6 lakh.

Amul "strongly cautions the public against providing personal information, sending money or disclosing bank details to any person claiming to represent AMUL." (amul.com disclaimer)

In 2020 the Delhi High Court went further, restraining domain registrars such as GoDaddy from selling domain names containing "AMUL" and directing the telecom department and MeitY to block rogue sites, according to Indian Cooperative. The practical test is simple. The only money on Amul's official list is a refundable security deposit plus what you spend on your own shop and equipment. A demand for a non-refundable "registration" or "approval" fee does not match any format Amul publishes.

The size of the brand behind the counter

Amul's page claims a network of more than 10,000 Amul Preferred Outlets across India. The brand itself crossed ₹1 lakh crore in turnover in FY26, while GCMMF's own sales rose 11.4% to ₹73,450 crore, per its April 2026 announcement. Scale is why a no-royalty model works for Amul: the parlour is a shelf for its products, not a fee stream.

Amul franchise cost: quick answers

Is there any royalty on an Amul franchise?

No. Amul lists no royalty and no profit sharing for all four formats. You earn the retail margin on what you sell.

What is the cheapest Amul franchise?

The standard Amul Parlour, at about ₹1.85 lakh excluding the shop, needing 100 to 150 sq ft.

How much can an Amul parlour sell in a month?

Amul's own estimate is ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh of turnover a month, depending on location. That is sales, not profit.