Retail Industry in India

India's retailers sell food, clothing, electronics, jewellery and household goods to households through supermarkets, department stores, specialty chains and independent shops, and through chains that also sell online. This page measures store-based retail as a whole, listed and private retailers together, from statutory filings and exchange prices, and sets it against the industries around it, shopper searches, news, geography and the wider retail ecosystem.

Top retail companies in India (listed and private)

Frequently asked questions

How large is the retail industry in India?

838 retail companies with statutory filings (30 listed, 808 private) reported combined revenue of ₹7.42 lakh crore in FY2025, +13.7% on the same companies, and aggregate EBITDA of ₹61,692 crore. As filed each year, combined revenue was ₹1.68 lakh crore in FY2018, reached ₹7.42 lakh crore in FY2025, the highest in the period; year-on-year changes are measured on the same companies. The 22 listed companies with an exchange price are worth ₹5.74 lakh crore in market capitalisation. Size here is measured in revenue, profit and market value, from statutory filings and exchange prices, not in physical volume of output.

Is profitability improving or deteriorating?

Improving. The aggregate EBITDA margin of retail companies was 8.3% in FY2025, 0.6 pts above FY2024, the highest in the period. Profit after tax margin was 3.4% (+0.5 pts on FY2024). Aggregate EBITDA of listed and private retail companies moved +124% from FY2022 to FY2025 on a same-company basis; FY2025 EBITDA was ₹61,692 crore (+18.8% on FY2024).

Which companies are leading the retail industry?

By FY2025 revenue the largest retail companies are Reliance Retail Ventures (₹2.91 lakh crore, 8.6% EBITDA margin, private); DMart (₹59,358 crore, 7.8% EBITDA margin); GRT Jewellers (₹34,326 crore, 7.5% EBITDA margin, private); Kalyan Jewellers India (₹25,045 crore, 6.6% EBITDA margin); Croma (Infiniti Retail) (₹19,064 crore, 2.1% EBITDA margin, private). Among the ten largest, Lifestyle (Life Style International) (19.7%) and Trent (17.4%) earn the widest EBITDA margins and Croma (Infiniti Retail) (2.1%) the thinnest. 12 of the 25 largest are private companies, which a listed-only view leaves out.

Where is demand or investment changing?

In the news: Supply chain carried 6.0% of retail stories in 2025-06 to 2026-05, up 1.4 pts (+31%) on the prior 12 months; net tone +55 vs +54 for all retail stories. In buyer searches: Search interest in apparel & fashion stores queries (clothing stores, dress shop near me, clothes shop near me) was +8% in the 12 months to 2026-09 vs the prior 12, led by “clothing stores” (+38%), followed by mobile & electronics showrooms (+1%); retail chain visits & offers moved -7%.

What should I investigate next?

These are the findings that fired on the data, negative signals first, each with the topic that holds the evidence: Retail EBITDA grew 124% since FY2022 (Industry financials). 39 private retail companies pass an IPO-readiness screen (Top retail companies in India). Supply chain is gaining the most ground in retail news (Retail in the news). Apparel & fashion stores searches rose most in the last year (Search & demand signals). Median EV/EBITDA is 20.7× and median P/E 41.8× across 22 priced retail companies. (Market capitalisation & valuation).

How are retail stocks valued?

The median trailing P/E is 41.8× and the median EV/EBITDA 20.7× across 22 priced companies.

What is the retail industry?

The retail industry buys goods from manufacturers and wholesalers and sells them to households through stores, from supermarkets and hypermarkets that sell groceries to apparel, footwear, electronics, jewellery, pharmacy and home-goods chains, earning the margin between purchase and selling price and competing on range, price, location and service.

What does this page cover?

Listed and private companies registered under retail trade activity codes (or the wholesale code that large store chains also carry), plus well-known store chains registered under other codes, reviewed by hand. Retailers that report inside a parent's consolidated accounts (for example Reliance Retail Limited inside Reliance Retail Ventures), online-only sellers and marketplace operators, bullion and gold traders, wholesalers and distributors, mall landlords and brand owners that sell mainly through wholesale are left out of the company totals; the ecosystem section covers the retail store formats and the suppliers that equip them.

Research information, not investment advice.