Best Franchise Business in India? Start With the Brands Whose Filings You Can Read
Instead of ranking brands by fame, we checked what stock-exchange filings reveal about four franchise networks: Manyavar, Bata, Lenskart and Dr Lal PathLabs. The answer shows which brands truly depend on franchisees.
There is no single best franchise business in India, but there is a best kind: one where the parent company publishes numbers about its franchise network in regulated disclosures. Most "best franchise" lists rank brands by fame or by the franchisor's own sales pitch. We took a different test. We looked for brands that are listed on the stock exchange and disclose, in filings a buyer can read, how many franchise stores they run and how much of the business depends on them. Four brands in FranchiseChuno's catalog pass that test: Manyavar, Bata, Lenskart and Dr Lal PathLabs. What their filings reveal is more useful than any ranking, because it tells you whether the brand actually needs franchisees or merely tolerates them.
Four listed brands and what their filings say about franchisees
| Brand | Listed parent | What the disclosures show | What it means for a buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manyavar | Vedant Fashions | Franchise-owned stores generated about 90% of sales (FY19 to FY21) | The business is built on franchisees |
| Bata | Bata India | Franchise stores grew from 500+ (FY24) to 700+ (FY26) | Actively recruiting, especially in smaller towns |
| Lenskart | Lenskart Solutions | 306 of 2,137 India stores franchisee-owned (June 2025) | Company-owned stores come first |
| Dr Lal PathLabs | Dr Lal PathLabs | 6,607 patient service centres, franchise listed as a collection channel (March 2025) | A low-ticket entry into a large network |
Manyavar: a franchise-first business, on the record
When Vedant Fashions filed its prospectus before its 2022 IPO, it had to state how much of its business ran through franchisees, and the answer was nearly all of it. Franchise-owned exclusive brand outlets generated 92.20%, 91.14% and 90.14% of customer sales in FY19, FY20 and FY21, and 88.09% in the six months to September 2021. As of June 30, 2021, the company had over 300 franchisees and 537 exclusive outlets. Two further numbers from the same document matter more to a prospective franchisee than any brochure could: 73% of franchisees had run their stores for three years or more, and 65% of franchise-store sales came from franchisees who owned two or more stores. People who stay and then open a second outlet are the closest thing to a public satisfaction score a franchise system can offer, and here it appears in a document the company filed with the market regulator, where misstatement carries legal consequences that a franchise expo brochure never does. By FY25, the company's sustainability report placed its presence across 244 cities and towns in India, selling five brands: Manyavar, Mohey, Twamev, Diwas and Mebaz.
Bata: a century-old brand turning to franchisees now
Bata India crossed 500 franchise outlets for the first time in FY24. By the end of FY25, its total network, company-owned and franchise combined, stood at 1,962 stores, and it added 19 franchise stores in the fourth quarter alone, aimed at towns and semi-urban markets.
The pace has picked up since. A June 2026 report on the company's results put the franchise count at 700+ stores by the end of FY26, with a target of about 1,000 within twelve months. The same report describes the franchise stores as outright-sale arrangements, meaning Bata carries no lease on them. For a franchisee, that phrasing is worth reading twice: in an outright-sale model you own the stock you buy, so unsold inventory is your problem, not the brand's. Ask how returns and end-of-season stock are handled before you sign.
Lenskart: the IPO money is going to its own stores
Lenskart listed on the NSE and BSE on November 10, 2025, at an issue price of ₹402. Its offer document is the clearest window yet into how it treats franchising. As of June 30, 2025, it had 2,137 stores in India, of which 1,831 were company-owned and 306 franchisee-owned, roughly an 86:14 split.
The use of the IPO proceeds points the same way. Lenskart set aside ₹272.6 crore to open new company-owned stores and ₹591.4 crore for their lease payments.
A brand that raises public money to open its own stores is telling you where its growth plan lives.
That does not make a Lenskart franchise a bad investment. It means franchise slots are a smaller, more selective channel, and you should expect a tougher approval process and less say over location.
Dr Lal PathLabs: the smallest cheque on this list
Dr Lal PathLabs states its entry cost on its own franchise page. Its Exclusive DLPL Collection Center needs a minimum investment of around ₹3 to 4 lakh and roughly 200 to 250 sq ft on the ground floor with a toilet. The company prefers applicants with a medical background.
The scale behind that small outlet is disclosed. As of March 31, 2025, the company's investor presentation listed 298 clinical labs, 6,607 patient service centres and 12,365 pick-up points, with franchise named among its collection channels.
The presentation does not split centres by owner.
So we treat 6,607 as the size of the network, not a count of franchisees, and you should too.
Why we used filings instead of a popularity ranking
Our earlier reporting on franchise costs found that aggregator sites often quote investment figures for the same brand that differ by 50% or more from one site to the next. A stock-exchange filing is different. It is dated, it is filed with the exchange or the market regulator, and the company answers for it. It will rarely tell you your exact investment, but it tells you something harder to fake: whether franchisees are the engine of the business or a side channel. In our view, that is the fairest single test an Indian franchise buyer can run today, and we would put it ahead of any award or ranking a brand advertises.
If you are comparing brands that are not listed, the same question still applies. Ask the franchisor what share of its stores are franchise-owned, how long its average franchisee has stayed, and how many own more than one outlet. A brand that cannot answer those three questions has not earned a place on your shortlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the best franchise business in India for a small budget?
Of the four listed brands we checked, Dr Lal PathLabs has the lowest officially stated entry point, a collection centre at around ₹3 to 4 lakh with 200 to 250 sq ft of ground-floor space.
Does Lenskart offer franchises?
It did at the time of its IPO filing, with 306 franchisee-owned stores in India as of June 30, 2025. The store-related IPO proceeds, however, are earmarked for company-owned outlets.
Why does a franchise brand being listed on the stock exchange matter?
Listed companies must disclose store counts, business mix and risks in filings they are legally accountable for, which gives you verified facts instead of sales claims.