Market Research Companies in Mumbai

Key figures for researchers

Population (Greater Mumbai)

12.44 million (2011 census)¹

Metropolitan area

18.4 million in the Mumbai urban agglomeration (2011 census)²

Island city / suburbs

3.09 million in the island city, 9.36 million in the western and eastern suburbs (2011 census)¹

Slum population

5.21 million, or 41.8% of residents (2011 census)²

Households

2.78 million (2011 census)¹

Literacy and sex ratio

89.7% literacy (age 7+); 853 women per 1,000 men (2011 census)²

Religion

Hindu 66.0%, Muslim 20.7%, Buddhist 4.9%, Jain 4.1%, Christian 3.3% (2011 census)²

Mobile subscribers

40.5 million in the Mumbai telecom service area (June 2026)⁶

Suburban trains

about 8 million passengers a day before the pandemic (2022 estimate by Central Railway officials)⁵

Monsoon

normal onset 11 June, normal withdrawal 8 October (IMD)⁷

Research guide

Research landscape

Mumbai is India’s financial centre: the Reserve Bank of India, the market regulator SEBI and the two main stock exchanges, BSE and NSE, are based in the city, along with many banks and corporate headquarters. It is also one of the country’s main research hubs, with full-service agencies, qualitative specialists, B2B, healthcare and media research firms, and offices of international networks that often coordinate national studies from Mumbai.

Besides consumer studies, the city is a natural base for financial services, B2B and executive research. Many agencies also run field teams or partner networks in other states, which helps when Mumbai is one of several cities in a national sample.

Who you will interview

At the 2011 census, Greater Mumbai had 12.44 million residents, and the wider urban agglomeration 18.4 million. A new census is under way, so population figures are old: ask the agency which sources and estimates it uses to set quotas. Mumbai is multilingual: Marathi is the most spoken language, Hindi has gained many speakers over the past two decades and Gujarati remains widely spoken; Urdu and English are also common. Consumer questionnaires are usually offered in Marathi, Hindi and English, with Gujarati or Urdu depending on the area.

The population is 66.0% Hindu and 20.7% Muslim, with Buddhist (4.9%), Jain (4.1%) and Christian (3.3%) minorities, which matters for food, finance or festival-related studies. Literacy is high (89.7% for age 7 and over in 2011), but the gap between slum and non-slum households is wide: agree the socio-economic classification (NCCS or ISEC) and the quotas before fieldwork starts.

Fieldwork in practice

Greater Mumbai is split between the island city in the south (3.09 million residents in 2011) and the much larger western and eastern suburbs (9.36 million). Sampling by municipal ward or by island city / western / eastern suburbs helps control the spread of interviews. Satellite cities of the metropolitan region, such as Thane or Navi Mumbai, are often covered separately: say in the brief whether they are in scope.

Housing shapes door-to-door work: 41.8% of residents lived in slums at the 2011 census, often in dense settlements where interviewers need local knowledge and supervision, while many middle- and upper-income households live in high-rise buildings with security staff, where access must be negotiated. Travel inside the city is slow, and suburban trains carried about 8 million passengers a day before the pandemic: allow realistic interviewer travel times. Mobile phones are widespread (40.5 million subscriptions in the Mumbai telecom service area in June 2026), so telephone and online interviews work well for many urban targets.

Focus groups and qualitative research

In-person groups are held in dedicated viewing facilities or in rooms rented by the agency, and in respondents’ homes for some targets. Group locations matter: respondents from the far suburbs may not travel to South Mumbai on a weekday evening, so groups are often split by area.

Ask the agency for its Mumbai incentive levels, recruitment lead times and screening checks against repeat respondents. Senior B2B and finance respondents often prefer short online interviews scheduled around office hours.

Timing

The monsoon is the main constraint: rains normally reach Mumbai around 11 June and withdraw around 8 October. Heavy rain can flood streets and stop trains, so build buffer days into face-to-face fieldwork in this period.

The ten-day Ganeshotsav (Ganesh Chaturthi), in August or September depending on the lunar calendar, brings processions, crowds and road closures: in 2026 it ended on 25 September, with more than 24,000 police deployed across the city. Diwali falls in late October or November (8 November in 2026, with a holiday on 9 November in Maharashtra; 29 October in 2027). Avoid these periods, or plan for slower fieldwork.

Working with a Mumbai agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, areas (island city, suburbs, rest of the metropolitan region), method, languages and deadline.
• Agree on the socio-economic classification (NCCS or ISEC) and how slum and high-rise households are covered.
• Ask which languages the questionnaire and interviewers will cover (Marathi, Hindi, English, Gujarati, Urdu).
• Ask how the fieldwork schedule allows for the monsoon and for Ganeshotsav and Diwali.
• For focus groups, ask for the venue address, viewing options and incentive levels.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 Mumbai companies from this page.

National rules (data protection, holidays, sampling across regions) are covered in our guide to market research in India.