MedPlus Franchise Cost in India: ₹25–30 Lakh, and a Quarter Where Nine in Ten New Stores Were Franchised
MedPlus publishes a ₹25–30 lakh set-up cost for a franchise pharmacy. Its Q1 FY27 results show franchisees now run about 12% of stores but bring only about 5% of pharmacy revenue.
MedPlus states that setting up a franchisee pharmacy costs ₹25–30 lakh. The page is undated and was written when the chain had about 4,500 stores, and it names no franchise fee, royalty or cost breakdown. That is the only cost figure the brand itself publishes, so every other number you see online for MedPlus is someone's estimate.
What a listed company does publish is how the franchise model is actually performing. MedPlus Health Services reported its April to June 2026 quarter on 22 July, and the numbers say a lot about the business you would be joining.
The ₹25–30 lakh figure and what it leaves out
One number, no breakdown.
The brand's own page also offers a cheaper route for staff: pharmacists who work two years in its Hyderabad stores can take a franchise in the Telugu states for an investment of ₹5 lakh. Outside that scheme, the ₹25–30 lakh is all there is.
Missing from it: fee, royalty, margin share, store size and the cost of converting an existing medical shop. Ask for all five in writing before you pay anything. Our MedPlus listing keeps the checked terms and the open gaps in one place.
Where franchisees sit in a 5,476-store chain
At the end of June 2026 MedPlus had 5,476 stores. About 12% of them, roughly 660, were franchisee stores. The rest are company-run.
In the quarter the chain added 146 stores, and 131 of them were franchisees, according to the company's earnings summary. That is nearly nine in ten. Reporting on the quarter also notes 52 store closures, though the sources reviewed do not say which type of store closed.
The company is targeting 800 net new stores in FY27, split evenly between franchisee and company-operated stores, per the earnings-call summary. Franchising has become the faster lane of expansion, not a side channel.
5% of revenue from 12% of stores
Brokerage Nomura, quoted by Business Today, put franchisee stores at about 12% of the network and franchisees at about 5% of pharmacy revenue in the quarter.
The gap is easy to misread. Many of those franchise stores are only months old, and a young pharmacy sells far less than a mature one, because it has not yet built a base of repeat customers who buy their monthly medicines there. That is our reading of the gap, not a number MedPlus has given. We would not treat it as proof that franchise stores are weak, since the sample is mostly new openings. We would, though, tell any prospective franchisee that the network average is a poor guide to what a first-year store sells, and that the only useful comparison is a franchise store of the same age in a town like yours, which MedPlus can be asked to show.
Franchisee stores were 12% of the chain and about 5% of pharmacy revenue in Q1 FY27.
What the chain's own margin tells you
Revenue for the quarter was ₹1,880 crore, up 21.8% from ₹1,543 crore a year earlier. Net profit fell about 22% to ₹33 crore. Gross margin slipped 163 basis points to 24.5%.
Nomura said the franchisee step-up contributed to the margin fall "to some extent". Most of the decline came from private-label pharma sales growing only 2%. For the full year FY26, the annual report shows revenue of about ₹6,892 crore and profit of about ₹220 crore.
So what? If franchising pulls the chain's own margin down, a franchisee should ask how much margin is left at the store. The ₹25–30 lakh page does not answer that, so test it before you commit.
| Item | What is published |
|---|---|
| Set-up cost | ₹25–30 lakh (brand page, undated) |
| Staff pharmacist scheme | ₹5 lakh, Telugu states |
| Franchise fee, royalty | Not published |
| Network, June 2026 | 5,476 stores, about 12% franchisee |
| Franchisee share of pharmacy revenue | About 5% (Q1 FY27) |
What to ask before you sign
Ask what margin you keep on branded, generic and private-label items, who owns the stock, and how MedPlus treats a store that sells below plan. Ask for the sales of franchise stores that opened 12 months ago, not the network average. Also ask whether a store closure in your catchment can be followed by a company store opening nearby.
FAQ
How much does a MedPlus franchise cost?
MedPlus states ₹25–30 lakh to set up a franchisee shop. It publishes no franchise fee or royalty.
Is MedPlus franchise profitable?
MedPlus does not publish franchisee profit. Its franchise stores brought about 5% of pharmacy revenue from about 12% of stores in Q1 FY27, so treat any promised return with caution.
Can a pharmacist get a cheaper MedPlus franchise?
Pharmacists who work two years in its Hyderabad stores can take a franchise in the Telugu states for ₹5 lakh, per the brand's page.