Short answer: budget for the one-time costs (brand fee if you franchise, deposit, fit-out, kit, licences) and at least a year of running costs before enrolment fills. Size the centre from the national ECCE standards, check revenue against real fee bands for your city, and treat any promise of a quick break-even as a sales line, not a forecast.
Thinking about opening a preschool? This guide gives you the structure of the costs and the questions that produce real numbers for your city and building. We have deliberately not printed one national price list: brand fees, rents and salaries vary too much by city and by brand for a single range to be honest.
A note on where we stand: the team behind Preschools Club also runs a preschool franchise, Makoons Play School. We have kept this guide to costs and questions that apply to every route, franchise or independent.
The two routes
- Take a franchise. Pay the brand for its name, curriculum, training and launch support, and follow its playbook.
- Go independent. Pay no brand fee or royalty, and build the curriculum, training and reputation yourself.
Compare brands' stated approaches in the preschool brands hub, and read franchise vs independent preschools to see how parents judge the difference.
One-time costs to put in your sheet
| Cost | What to ask or check |
|---|---|
| Brand or franchise fee (franchise route) | What exactly it buys, whether GST is included, and what is refundable if you never open |
| Rent deposit and lock-in | A school needs years in one place; negotiate a long lock-in on your side, not the landlord's |
| Fit-out and furniture | Child-height toilets, safe flooring, window grills, railings and earthed wiring are not optional |
| Outdoor play equipment | Soft surfacing and shade, not only the equipment itself |
| Curriculum kit and learning materials | Per-child kit costs recur every year, so ask for both the opening and the annual figure |
| Licences and safety | Trade or shop licence, fire safety equipment and any clearance your building needs, and your state's registration rules for preschools |
| Launch marketing | Usually more than first-time owners expect, in the year before enrolment builds |
Size the centre from the national standards
The National ECCE Policy 2013 lists base standards every ECCE provider should meet. They are the best starting point for sizing a centre:
- a programme of three to four hours a day;
- a classroom of at least 35 square metres for a group of 30 children, plus at least 30 square metres of outdoor space for the same group;
- an adult-child ratio of at least 1:20 for ages 3 to 6 and 1:10 for under-threes, with children never left unattended;
- safe drinking water, separate child-friendly toilets, a first-aid kit and space for meals and naps.
Parents increasingly expect better than the minimum ratio. If you plan for about one adult per 10 children aged 3 to 5, a centre with 60 children in that age band needs about six adults in the rooms, against three at the policy floor. That gap is the biggest single line in most preschool budgets, so decide it early.
The NCF for the Foundational Stage (2022) adds safety duties that cost money and time: first-aid training for all teachers, safe storage of hazardous materials, and staff who understand child protection under the POCSO Act. Budget for background checks on every adult who works on site.
Running costs everyone underestimates
- The slow first years. Enrolment ramps up over admission seasons, not months. Plan cash for at least a full year of rent and salaries before the centre is full.
- Salaries in the holidays. If your fee plan collects for fewer months than you pay staff, the gap comes out of your margin.
- Teacher turnover. Every teacher who leaves costs recruitment, training and parent trust. Pay and working conditions are cheaper than churn.
- Royalty and kit purchases (franchise route). Ask for the total you would pay the brand over five years at your planned enrolment, not the headline percentage. If a brand advertises "no royalty", ask how it earns instead; often it is through kit and material sales per child.
The GST point most budgets miss
Tuition from a preschool is exempt from GST: the GST Council's note on education services includes institutions providing pre-school education. The services you buy, including a franchise fee and royalty, are normally billed with GST. Because your own income is exempt, you generally cannot claim that GST back, so it is a real cost. Confirm the treatment for your set-up with a chartered accountant before you sign.
Revenue: check it against real fee bands
Revenue is children multiplied by the fee you can actually charge in your area, so start from what parents already pay. Our indicative fee benchmarks for 2025-26 (ranges estimated by the Preschools Club team from published fee information, not any school's actual fee) give mid-range annual tuition of:
| City | Mid-range tuition a year | Budget tier starts near |
|---|---|---|
| Lucknow | ₹50,000 to ₹90,000 | ₹25,000 |
| Jaipur | ₹50,000 to ₹90,000 | ₹25,000 |
| Indore | ₹50,000 to ₹85,000 | ₹25,000 |
| Ahmedabad | ₹60,000 to ₹1.1 lakh | ₹30,000 |
| Pune | ₹75,000 to ₹1.4 lakh | ₹40,000 |
| Bengaluru | ₹90,000 to ₹1.8 lakh | ₹50,000 |
All 15 benchmarked cities are in preschool fees by city. A worked check, using only those bands: 60 children paying ₹60,000 a year in tuition is ₹36 lakh a year before any cost. Now subtract your real rent, your staffing plan at the ratio you chose, kits, marketing and, on the franchise route, royalty and GST. If the remainder only works at full enrolment from year one, the plan is too thin.
Ask for evidence, not projections
- Ask a brand for the enrolment history of centres it opened two or three years ago in a city like yours, and speak to those owners yourself.
- Ask what support continues after launch, and what it costs.
- Ask what happens if you want to exit: notice period, buy-back, and what you may keep.
Anyone promising break-even in six months is selling you a franchise, not a forecast.
Franchise or independent?
Take a franchise if this is your first education venture and you value a ready curriculum, training and a brand parents already recognise. Go independent if you have an education background, a strong local network and the patience to build a reputation from zero. Either way, the centre lives or dies on its teachers. The teacher training guide and our quality standards are a good place to plan for them.
Revised October 2026: unsupported national cost ranges and break-even figures removed, the ECCE Policy 2013 space, ratio and programme standards added, the GST treatment explained, and revenue checked against real 2026 city fee bands.