Lyfskills maps 26,582 fitness and activity centres across India’s top metros

By AI, Created 9:54 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – Lyfskills’ new study maps 26,582 verified gyms, academies and creative learning centres across nine metro areas and satellite cities, giving a first structured look at one of India’s least tracked consumer services markets. The data shows Delhi leads in total supply, Bengaluru leads in density, and most centres remain independently run.

Why it matters: - India’s offline fitness and activity market is large, but it has lacked consolidated data on size, geography and competitive structure. - The study gives operators, investors and parents a clearer view of where supply is concentrated and where gaps remain. - The findings also show that star ratings alone can be misleading when many highly rated centres have very few reviews.

What happened: - Lyfskills released a data study mapping 26,582 verified centres across Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. - The dataset covers 34 activity categories and 2.9 million Google reviews. - The study includes gyms, sports academies, performing arts schools and creative learning centres. - Data is current as of April 2026.

The details: - Delhi has the highest absolute count of activity centres at 7,591. - Bengaluru follows with 6,471 centres, and Mumbai has 4,649. - In the NCR satellite cities, Gurugram has 2,353 listings, Noida 1,486, Ghaziabad 1,444, Faridabad 667, Thane 1,052 and Navi Mumbai 869. - The five NCR cities together account for 13,541 centres, or more than half of the full dataset. - On a density basis, Bengaluru leads with 8.7 centres per sq km. - Mumbai ranks second at 7.7 centres per sq km, followed by Thane at 7.2. - Delhi’s density is 5.1 per sq km because of its larger geographic footprint. - Gurugram is the sparsest among the nine cities at 3.2 centres per sq km. - Gym and fitness centres are the largest category with 7,729 listings. - Other major categories include dance at 3,201, yoga at 3,032, music at 2,468, cricket at 1,679 and art and craft at 1,660. - Emerging categories include 426 coding and robotics centres, 333 gymnastics academies and 309 chess clubs. - Smaller niche formats include 72 horse riding academies, 17 shooting ranges and 4 archery clubs. - Bengaluru over-indexes in badminton at 1.92x, with basketball at 1.53x and skating at 1.48x. - Cricket dominates in Delhi and its satellite cities at 1.18x. - Mumbai over-indexes in theatre and drama at 1.86x, along with gymnastics at 1.30x and football at 1.23x. - Of all mapped centres, 96.4% are standalone and independently operated. - Only 954 centres, or 3.6%, are tied to a recognised brand or chain. - Those branded locations span 97 distinct brand names. - Only 13 brands operate across all three metro regions. - Football has the highest chain presence at 17.7%. - Martial arts has 6.8% chain affiliation, badminton 6.7%, swimming 5.2% and yoga 5.0%. - Eighty percent of centres have a Google rating of 4.5 stars or higher. - Thirty-five percent have a perfect 5.0 rating. - Of the 9,384 centres with a 5.0 rating, 39% have 10 or fewer reviews. - Only 20% of 5.0-rated centres have more than 50 reviews. - Among high-rated centres, reviewers most often mention trainer quality, coaching approach and personal attention. - Among lower-rated centres, complaints cluster around cleanliness, equipment condition and court availability. - Rohini in Delhi has 604 listings, equal to 7.5 times the city median. - Andheri West in Mumbai has 598 listings, or 5 times the median. - Whitefield in Bengaluru has 493 listings, or 6 times the median. - The locality data suggests activity supply is concentrated in a small number of high-density residential corridors.

Between the lines: - The market looks fragmented, with almost all centres still run as independents rather than chains. - City-by-city preferences suggest local culture and infrastructure shape demand, from badminton in Bengaluru to theatre in Mumbai. - High ratings do not necessarily mean high confidence, since many perfect scores come from centres with limited review volume. - Supply clustering in a few neighbourhoods means consumers in the same city may face very different access depending on where they live.

What’s next: - Lyfskills says the study underpins Lyfskills Discover, an activities platform. - Lyfskills also operates Lynk.Coach, a coaching management platform for gyms and activity centres. - The company’s social channels and study download are available through its published links, including the company’s LinkedIn page, Instagram profile and Facebook page.

The bottom line: - India’s fitness and activity sector is bigger and more unevenly distributed than it has been measured before, with clear evidence of dense local clusters, fragmented ownership and early signs of category diversification.