Monthly Cost of Running a Gym in India: Full Breakdown

The monthly cost of running a gym in India is mostly four lines: rent, salaries, electricity and maintenance, with smaller amounts for marketing, software, accounts and supplies. For a hypothetical 3,000 sq ft gym in a Tier-2 city, those lines add up to about ₹2.6 lakh a month in the example below. The two lines owners most often get wrong are the electricity bill (AC load adds up fast) and the GST you pay on your own costs, which you can no longer claim back.

Every figure here is hypothetical unless it has a source link. Use the method, not the numbers.

What goes into a gym's monthly running cost?

Here's the full budget for a hypothetical 3,000 sq ft gym with six ACs, four treadmills and about 250 to 300 members. Each line is explained below.

At an average fee of ₹1,000 a month GST-inclusive, your revenue per member is ₹1,000 ÷ 1.05 = ₹952.38. So this gym needs ₹2,57,599 ÷ ₹952.38 = 271 paying members just to cover the month. Put your own lines into the gym profit calculator to get your break-even and payback.

How much rent should a gym pay?

There's no correct number, but there is a useful test: rent ÷ revenue per member = members needed just to pay the landlord. Here, ₹55,000 ÷ ₹952.38 = 58 members. If that number is a big slice of the members your area can realistically give you, the location is too expensive, however good the footfall looks.

Does GST apply to your rent?

Renting commercial property is a taxable service. Under the services rate notification, real estate services carry 9% CGST plus 9% SGST, 18% in total. Two situations matter:

• Your landlord is GST-registered. They add GST to the rent invoice.
• Your landlord is not registered, but you are. Since October 2024, GST on commercial rent from an unregistered person to a registered person is paid by the tenant under reverse charge, following the 54th GST Council meeting.

Either way, here's the catch. Gym services have been taxed at 5% without input tax credit since 22 September 2025. You can't set off the GST on rent against the GST you collect from members. It's simply a cost: ₹55,000 × 18% = ₹9,900 a month in this example. Confirm with your CA whether it applies to your lease, because the rules depend on both parties' registration.

What should a gym budget for salaries?

Salaries are usually the biggest line. A hypothetical small-gym team:

Three things to check before you fix these numbers:

1. Your state's minimum wages for the category, which vary by state and get revised.
2. Your shift pattern. A gym open 5 am to 11 pm needs two shifts at the desk and on the floor. Count the hours, not just the heads.
3. PT payouts. If trainers earn a share of PT fees, keep that out of fixed salary and treat it as a cost against PT revenue.

For roles, logins and handovers between shifts, see managing gym staff.

How do you work out a gym's electricity bill?

Don't guess. Work it out in kWh (units), because that's how the discom bills you.

Step 1: list the load

Read the rated input power from each appliance's nameplate or manual. For this example, say:

• 6 split ACs, each drawing about 2 kW
• 4 treadmills, each averaging about 1.5 kW while in use
• Lights, fans, music and the front desk: about 3 kW together

These are assumptions for the arithmetic. Your machines will differ.

Step 2: estimate hours and units per day

• ACs: 6 × 2 kW × 12 hours × 70% (compressors cycle on and off) = 100.8 kWh
• Treadmills: 4 × 1.5 kW × 6 hours of actual use = 36 kWh
• Lights and the rest: 3 kW × 15 hours = 45 kWh
• Total: about 182 kWh a day, or 5,454 kWh a month

Notice where it goes. The ACs are more than half the bill.

Step 3: apply your state's tariff

Gyms are usually billed under a non-domestic or commercial category, but the rate depends entirely on your state. Two examples from official FY 2025-26 tariff orders:

Using the Madhya Pradesh numbers, with a hypothetical billing demand of 25 kW:

• Energy: 5,454 × ₹7.10 = ₹38,723
• Demand charge: 25 × ₹302 = ₹7,550
• Total before duty and other charges: ₹46,273

Electricity duty, fuel adjustment and other charges are extra and vary by state. Get your discom's current tariff for your category and check one real bill from a similar business nearby if you can.

Step 4: find the levers

One hour less AC a day, across all six units, saves 6 × 2 × 1 × 0.7 × 30 = 252 units, or about ₹1,789 a month at ₹7.10. Other levers worth checking:

• Set a sensible thermostat temperature and don't cool an empty floor at 2 pm.
• Clean AC filters on the schedule in the manual. Clogged filters make compressors run longer.
• Switch to LED lighting if you haven't.
• Keep your sanctioned or contracted load close to your real peak, since fixed or demand charges are often calculated on it.

How much should you set aside for maintenance?

Treadmill belts and motors, cable machines, upholstery, AC servicing and the occasional plumbing job. These don't arrive monthly, which is exactly why you budget monthly.

Put a fixed amount (₹12,000 in this example) into a separate account every month. Use each machine's manual for service intervals, keep a simple log of every repair, and after a year, compare what you set aside with what you actually spent. Adjust from real data. Also remember that GST on spares and service bills is a cost to you now, for the same no-ITC reason as rent.

What about marketing, software and the small stuff?

• Marketing (₹10,000): printing, a Google Business Profile kept current, a few boosted posts, a referral reward. Track which ones bring enquiries.
• Software (₹399): MyGymGate costs ₹399 a month for unlimited members, which covers check-ins, renewal reminders and the dashboard. Whatever you choose, compare it with the cost of one missed renewal.
• CA and bookkeeping (₹3,000): more if you're GST-registered and filing returns.
• Insurance (₹2,000): fire and equipment cover, plus public liability if your insurer offers it. Get actual quotes.
• Annual costs to spread monthly: licence renewals, fire NOC renewals, music licensing if you need it. Divide each by 12 and add it to the budget so they don't surprise you.

Where can you realistically cut costs?

In order of how much they usually move the total:

1. Rent. Negotiate before signing: a rent-free fit-out period, a lower escalation, a longer lock-in in return for a lower rate.
2. Staff hours. Match staffing to footfall. If 11 am to 4 pm is quiet, one trainer on the floor may be enough.
3. Electricity. The AC hours, thermostat and contracted load points above.
4. Maintenance. Regular servicing is cheaper than emergency repairs and member complaints.
5. Marketing. Stop paying for anything that doesn't produce enquiries you can count.

Don't cut cleaning. Members notice a dirty washroom faster than an old treadmill.

Quick checklist

• Every monthly line written down, including GST you can't claim back
• Rent tested: rent ÷ revenue per member
• Salaries checked against state minimum wages and your shift hours
• Electricity worked out in kWh from nameplate ratings and your state's tariff
• Maintenance reserve in a separate account
• Annual costs divided by 12 and added
• Break-even member count calculated and compared with your actual members
• Monthly costs reviewed alongside your gym KPIs

To see what these costs mean for profit at different member counts, read is a gym business profitable in India. Tax and tariff rules change, so confirm the GST points with your CA and the tariff with your discom.