Where Are India's Fittest Places?

Goa and Chandigarh top the league for gyms per capita

India’s love affair with organised fitness has exploded in the past decade. From bargain basement iron‑dens to glittering luxury clubs, the country now counts roughly 96,000 commercial gyms nationwide. Yet—much like incomes—those gyms are unevenly spread. Our fresh look at May 2025 shows which States and Union Territories (UTs) enjoy the greatest access to professional fitness centres, measured per 100 000 residents.

How we measured it

Gyms counted: Only registered commercial fitness centres and health clubs listed in the SmartScrapers database (May 2025). We excluded small unregistered neighbourhood gyms and stand‑alone yoga studios so the numbers reflect the organised end of the market.
Population: 2023 state/UT population estimates from the Registrar General of India and United Nations projections. Where no 2023 estimate exists (e.g. Ladakh, Lakshadweep) we used the 2011 Census figure.
Metric: (Number of gyms ÷ population) × 100 000, rounded to one decimal place.

The leaderboard

Rank	State / UT	Commercial gyms	2023 pop. (est.)	Gyms / 100 000
1	Goa	370	1 575 000	23.5
2	Chandigarh (UT)	216	1 055 450	20.5
3	Haryana	5 258	30 209 000	17.4
4	Punjab	4 752	30 730 000	15.5
5	Puducherry (UT)	185	1 247 953	14.8
6	Delhi (NCT)	3 163	21 588 000	14.7
7	Himachal Pradesh	878	7 468 000	11.8
8	Kerala	4 041	35 776 000	11.3
9	Mizoram	131	1 238 000	10.6
10	Manipur	328	3 223 000	10.2
11	Maharashtra	11 810	126 385 000	9.3
12	Sikkim	64	689 000	9.3
13	Tamil Nadu	7 116	76 860 000	9.3
14	Uttarakhand	1 009	11 637 000	8.7
15	Karnataka	5 117	67 692 000	7.6
…	(see Appendix for full 36‑region list)

Key takeaway: Even India’s front‑runner, Goa, hosts just 23–24 gyms for every 100 000 people—a modest figure compared with mature markets such as the UK (~60) or the US (~75). There is ample room for growth.

Why Goa leads

Tourism windfall: With over 8 million annual visitors, Goa sustains a dense network of boutique fitness studios, beach‑front gyms and high‑end hotel clubs.
High urban share: Nearly two‑thirds of the population lives in towns or cities, pushing demand for organised leisure.
Affluence: Goa’s per‑capita GDP is India’s highest, giving residents and visitors money to spend on memberships.

The rise of the Union Territories

Chandigarh leaps straight into second place. Its compact area, affluent base and strong bodybuilding culture translate to one commercial gym for roughly every 5 000 people.
Puducherry rides a similar mix of tourism and urban density. A cluster of sea‑facing boutique clubs added since 2022 nudge it ahead of Delhi.
Delhi—India’s largest single gym market by absolute numbers—still ends up mid‑table because of its huge population. The capital’s real contest is not quantity but differentiation: tech‑enabled classes, women‑only spaces, and premium design now drive growth.

Bottom of the table

Large, rural‑heavy states such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Bihar sit at the end of the list with barely 3–4 gyms per 100 000 people. Infrastructure gaps, lower disposable incomes and patchy urban planning hold back formal fitness in these regions.

What it means for operators

Opportunity tier	Target regions	Rationale
Green‑field	Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, North‑East hills	Huge populations, few organised gyms; scope for low‑capex neighbourhood clubs and government PPPs.
Scale‑up	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu	Big absolute markets where per‑capita density is still single‑digits; chain expansion and franchising models work here.
Premium niche	Goa, Chandigarh, Delhi	Highly competitive but high‑spend consumers; success lies in boutique positioning and service differentiation.

Sources

SmartScrapers “Gyms & Fitness Centres” dataset, May 2025 update (Rentech Digital).
Registrar General of India – Population projections 2023.
United Nations World Population Prospects 2024.
Local press reports on new gym openings, 2023–25.

(All calculations by author. Please credit “SmartScrapers, 2025” when citing gym counts.)

Appendix – Full State & UT list (gyms per 100 000)

State / UT	Gyms / 100 000
Goa	23.5
Chandigarh (UT)	20.5
Haryana	17.4
Punjab	15.5
Puducherry (UT)	14.8
Delhi (NCT)	14.7
Himachal Pradesh	11.8
Kerala	11.3
Mizoram	10.6
Manipur	10.2
Maharashtra	9.3
Sikkim	9.3
Tamil Nadu	9.3
Uttarakhand	8.7
Karnataka	7.6
Rajasthan	7.4
West Bengal	6.7
Madhya Pradesh	6.1
Gujarat	5.8
Assam	5.8
Uttar Pradesh	5.8
Arunachal Pradesh	5.7
Tripura	5.0
Andhra Pradesh	5.0
Nagaland	4.7
Telangana	4.7
Jharkhand	4.7
Meghalaya	3.4
Bihar	3.4
Chhattisgarh	3.1
Odisha	3.1
Andaman & Nicobar (UT)	7.6
Jammu & Kashmir (UT)	5.9
Ladakh (UT)	0.36
Lakshadweep (UT)	0.0
Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu (UT)	Data insufficient