Inside India’s Booming Private Members-Only Club Scene
13 Jun 2025 6:30 PM IST
India’s elite have been fraternizing at old-school clubs for decades – I’m talking of your Gymkhanas and Golf clubs in Tier 1 cities.
But, for the uninitiated, becoming a member at these historic institutions is virtually impossible – some of them have waiting times of up to 30 years!
India’s new elite need another space – and a growing private members-only club scene is coming up to fulfill that need. Some of these clubs are Soho House, Quorum, Jolie’s and The Bay Club, for example.
A study from 2024 found that the private, members-only club market is growing at a CAGR of 17.8%. By 2027, the annual ‘private club’ market will reach 941 crore rupees.
I’m your host Kudrat Wadhwa and you’re listening to The Signal Daily. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we bring you deep dives into the how and why of consumer trends.
In the latest episode of The Signal Daily, we’ll learn about these hangout spots for India’s elite. What’s different about this new wave versus the old-school Gymkhana type institutions?
NOTE: A machine transcribed this episode. A human has looked at this text but there might still be errors. Please refer to the audio above, if you need to clarify something. If you want to give us feedback, please write to us at [email protected].
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TRANSCRIPT
Kudrat (Host): To spot a Delhi Gymkhana club member, watch out for this. They’ll say, “Hey I’m heading off to the Gym.” But, when you look, confused, at their formal bandhgala and dhoti – an outfit that’s clearly not suitable to working out, they’ll give you an annoyed, condescending look. It’s not me saying that, but rather, an article in the magazine ‘Architectural Digest’. The piece lists India’s various old-school clubs according to the following criteria – how to spot a member based on their clothes and behaviour, the club’s architecture, and their “colonial hangover index,” among other attributes.
India’s elite have been fraternizing at such old-school, colonial era clubs for decades. These include Delhi’s Gymkhana, Kolkata’s Tollygunge, and Hyderabad’s Nizam Club.
But now, there’s a new cool kid in town – private, exclusive, members-only cubs. These are Soho House in Mumbai, Quorum Club in Gurugram, Mumbai and Hyderabad. And then, there’s newer clubs that are even more expensive and exclusive, like The Bay Club, which the Ambanis own and the Oberoi group manages.
A study from 2024 found that the market of private, members-only clubs is growing at a CAGR of 17.8%. By 2027, its annual market size will reach 941 crore rupees.
Kudrat (Host): I’m your host Kudrat Wadhwa and you’re listening to The Signal Daily. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we bring you deep dives into the how and why of consumer trends.
In this episode, we’ll learn about these new hangout spots of India’s elite. Who is getting a membership here? And why? What’s different about these fancy private clubs versus the old-school historic ones?
Kudrat (Host): The Brits brought club culture from England to India – they needed a place to enjoy their leisure time. In 1827, they set up ‘The Bengal Club’ – which many at the time saw as the “unofficial headquarters of the British Raj.” Soon, such clubs began popping up everywhere in the country. In 1832, came the Madras Club, in 1875, the Bombay Gymkhana, and in 1913, the Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club, among several others.
The vibe at these clubs is old-school and colonial. At the Delhi Gymkhana Club, which The Signal Daily visited, there’s a large ballroom floor smack in the middle of the main building. There’s also several bars and gardens as well as a bridge room and a rummy room. The bathrooms at the ‘Gym’ aren’t called bathrooms, but rather ‘cloak rooms’. There’s even a ‘siesta room’ with beds in these cloak rooms. The plates and glasses all have The Delhi Gymkhana Club logo engraved on them, along with the phrase ‘established in 1913.’
V+S: You come here, it's all people, you know, it's a familiar place. Um. Yeah, it's just take it easy. Have a swim, have some good food, have a beer, have some, the chicken tikka, beer is really cheap here. Like alcohol is really cheap.
Uh, I don't think it's like basically army prices, so you can get like a rum and coke for like. 60 bucks. 70 bucks.
Kudrat (Host): That was Viraj and Sanatan, who said that they see the Delhi Gymkhana as an extension of their home. The callout to the army isn’t off the mark either – historically, members of a place like the Delhi Gymkhana came from army or civil servant backgrounds. As well as those of big businesses and corporate houses.
That’s also where the problem lies, in part. You see, unless someone in your family is already a member, it’s basically impossible to join these spaces. The Delhi Gymkhana has a waiting line of 30 years, for example. Their charges for new members are also very high – in the tune of a one time joining fee of 5-30 lakhs, and an annual fee of 20,000 to 1 lakh rupees.
Kudrat (Host): In fact, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs even filed a petition with the National Company Law Tribunal in April 2020. The petition said that the Gym’s management ran the club in a manner that’s “prejudicial to public interest”. The Tribunal then asked the govt to take over the management from its traditional army / civil servant president.
Its order said that, “Under the garb of the distinctive character of the club, which is a relic of the imperial past, the doors for membership are virtually limited to people having blue blood in their veins thereby perpetuating apartheid and shattering the most cherished constitutional goal of securing social justice and equality of status and opportunity.”
Kudrat (Host): India’s new elite don’t necessarily come from these “blue-blooded” families. With these historic spaces closed off to them, they also need ‘third spaces’ to hang out in.
And that’s where new-age private clubs come in. Clubs like Soho House and The Quorum offer spaces for the wealthy to network, to work out or just grab a beer or coffee and chill with their friends.
Most of these new-age clubs are in Mumbai. Specifically, the Axon Developers report I mentioned earlier found that West India – so that’s Mumbai – contributed 42.5% to the total area of these clubs. The North – so that’s Delhi, for the most part – contributed 25.8%. South and East India – meaning Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad – contributed 31.7% in total.
Mumbai also takes the cake in how many members of clubs come from the metro city. More than half – 52.8% to be specific – of the total registered members come from Mumbai. 30% come from the North and 28.3% from South and East India.
In 2020, such clubs had about 8100 registered members. In 2024, that number is at 11,200. The total annual market size for these clubs is growing at a much faster rate – of 17.8%. From 324 crores in 2020, in 2024, this market was worth 576 crores. By 2027, the report predicts the market will reach 941 crores.
Kudrat (Host): Now, even among this new sector of private, members-only clubs, there’s differences, based on who they cater to, what their membership fee is and how exclusive they are.
So, Soho House, for example, is a global brand that opened a branch in Juhu in Mumbai in 2018. Soho House caters mostly to creatives, so actors, singers, musicians and dancers. Most people use Soho House as a social space, to hang out in, drink and maybe make professional and personal connections. To become a member at Soho House, you apply through their website, after which a committee vets you. Of course, it helps to know an existing member who can vouch for you. The annual membership fee ranges anywhere from 1.7 lakhs to 3 lakhs. As a member, the facilities you can access are a world-class gym, a rooftop pool and chic hotel rooms.
And then, there’s Quorum. Its founder, Vivek Narain, doesn’t like to call it a club, because of its connotation with India’s already existing historic club culture. Rather, he calls it a lifestyle brand. The Quorum charges a 3-5 lakh one-time joining fee and has an annual membership fee of 1-2 lakh rupees. Its members are mostly professionals, who see The Quorum as a place to work and network. Quorum also regularly hosts talks by experts on history, technology and business – and basically any topic that might interest those who want to be “in the know.”
Here’s Saurabh Poddar, a 32-year old finance professional who’s a member of The Quorum’s branch in Mumbai, talking about what drew him to joining the club.
Saurabh Poddar: I basically treat this and office space, um, given. Given the commercial rents you have for an office space. So I thought this was a better structure to work out from. It's kind of coworking, but it's also social enough where you end up meeting people. Um, and I, I have a flexible work environment.
I don't need to be chained to a desk. I can move around. I do like how open? Um. How open it is, how under the gym, there's, there's enough facilities for me to keep me drawn in, but I also don't need to be chained down to a certain desk. So yeah, I do come here quite, I come here pretty much every day.
Kudrat (Host): Saurabh also told The Signal Daily that the other members of The Quorum that he interacts with are either creatives or working professionals – techies, finance people, and consultants.
That’s also what the 2024 Axon Developers report I mentioned earlier said – that private, members-only clubs are frequented by business tycoons, professional consultants, second-gen business owners, entrepreneurs, and VCs.
These people also like hosting parties and events in curated small groups at these clubs. Clubs have large sitting areas with pleasing décor and restaurants with quality chefs – making them suitable for small gatherings. The Quorum, for instance, also has a lot of unique art pieces adorned on its walls, which its founders like to switch up regularly to keep the space fresh.
Kudrat (Host): The Quorum and Soho House are one kind of new-age private clubs. Their membership fee is anywhere from 1-5 lakhs per year. That rate is significant and out of reach of most Indians, but still, these spaces wouldn’t really fall in the uber luxury segment.
The second kind of private clubs are the even more pricey and exclusive ones. The services here are several notches above anything else – they have top-tier salons, spas, hammams, art galleries and even cigar lounges.
One such place is The Bay Club – a sprawling 120,000 sq ft property in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, which the Ambanis own. The Bay Club caters only to the cream of the cream of the wealthy.
Kudrat (Host): The Bay Club is an invite-only club, meaning you can become a member only if someone invites you. Their annual fees is a minimum of 15 lakh rupees. Word has it that the Ambanis frequent there, along with Bollywood A-listers, who like it because it’s so private and out of the public eye. Even their instagram page is private, so an outsider can’t even gawk at pictures and live vicariously.
If you become a member here, you can access their temperature-controlled lap pool, rooftop tennis courts, squash courts, and unique and exotic food and beverage options.
Kudrat (Host): Clubs are ‘third spaces’, that are neither your home, nor your workplace, but another space for you to connect with like-minded people and network.
These upcoming new-age private clubs have specific offerings – a place like the Quorum can help a young professional network with people in their field and rise up the ranks. And then, once you’ve made it, you might get an invite to join a place like The Bay Club, where you could continue honing those connections.
Kudrat (Host): The story of India’s clubs and the rise in private clubs that the country is witnessing is, in a way, also the story of India’s elite.
The old elite in the country came from bureaucratic and army backgrounds, as well as established corporate houses. Elite didn’t just mean money – it also meant social and cultural capital – which is why the food prices and the annual membership at the Gym is not that high.
India’s new elite have boatloads of money. They’re your tech millionaires, VCs, consultants, finance professionals, actors and sportspeople. The market of private clubs that cater to these crowds is growing relentlessly, too, by almost 20% – a reflection of how the income of India’s wealthy is growing, along with their demand for luxury experiences.
Though older clubs represent institutional privilege and inherited status, these new clubs signal wealth and aspirational social mobility.
Kudrat (Host): That’s all for today. You just heard The Signal Daily. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we’ll bring you deep dives into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ on consumer trends.
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