Aqualite is an Indian footwear maker from the Bahadurgarh belt in Haryana, known for moulded EVA slippers, hawai chappals and budget sports shoes. It sells online for roughly ₹263 to ₹1,679, checked on 22 August 2026. The brand is routinely called a ₹1,000 crore business. Its audited accounts say otherwise, and that gap is why this page exists.
Aqualite has never filed a ₹1,000 crore year. Audited FY2024 revenue was ₹727.75 crore, with a loss of ₹3.81 crore; provisional FY2025 was ₹774.03 crore. The peak was ₹928 crore in FY2023 and the business has shrunk since. The slippers are fair value at ₹263 to ₹422; the company’s account of itself is not.
Snapshot
- Founded
- 1981 by the company’s own account; the company was incorporated 26 August 1996
- Founder
- Davinder Kumar (D.K.) Gupta, Managing Director
- Headquarters
- Registered in Delhi; manufacturing in Jhajjar, Haryana
- Current owner
- Aqualite Industries Private Limited, promoter-family controlled; Lighthouse India Fund III holds 16.4% from December 2018
- Category
- Footwear — EVA and PU slippers, hawai, sports and school shoes
- Price band in India
- ₹263 to ₹1,679 selling, checked on 22 August 2026
- Available in India
- Officially — 12 own stores, a large dealer network, marketplaces
How it started
The company’s About page dates Aqualite to 1981, when D.K. Gupta was 17, and says it was “officially incorporated as Aqualite Industries Pvt. Ltd. in 1996”. The first claim cannot be checked; a pre-1996 proprietorship leaves no trace on the register. The second does not hold.
A company was incorporated on 26 August 1996 — as Freedom Footwear Private Limited. It took the Aqualite name afterwards, under CIN U19202DL1996PTC361922.
- Freedom Footwear Private LimitedIncorporated 26 August 1996, ROC Delhi
- Registered office moves Delhi, Haryana, DelhiThree CINs on one company’s file
- Aqualite Industries Private LimitedThe name on the register today, CIN U19202DL1996PTC361922
That is the paperwork behind a brand that presents 1996 as an Aqualite date. The corporate profile page also calls the business “Aqualite Footwear Industries”. No company of that name exists on the register.
What they actually make
Seven categories by the company’s own listing: EVA, PU, hawai, sports shoes, DIP moulded PVC, winter footwear and school shoes. It calls itself a pioneer in open footwear, which is honest — slippers and sandals are the core. A sneaker sub-brand, NINE, launched for Autumn-Winter 2025. The models are tracked on our Aqualite catalogue page.
Manufacturing is in north India. CRISIL in September 2023 and Infomerics in July 2025 both name two locations — Kassar in Haryana and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. The Legal Metrology declaration on marketplace listings names the manufacturer as Aqualite Industries Pvt Ltd, Village Rohad, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar, Haryana. The brand’s own site carries no such declaration.
On output, the company says its plants make more than 4 lakh pairs a day. That claim holds up: CRISIL puts daily capacity at about 4.29 lakh pairs and Infomerics at over 4,00,000.
Aqualite’s corporate profile claims ten plants — nine in Bahadurgarh, one in Bhiwadi. The rating agencies name two locations and give no unit count. Ten units can sit across two sites, so these are not contradictory, but nothing independent confirms ten. Nor could we establish whether Aqualite owns or leases its factories; both agencies say only that it “operates” them.
What Aqualite costs in India
Start with what you cannot check. Aqualite’s own website publishes no working price: every product on it shows the same ₹11, which is a placeholder standing in for a price rather than a price. There is no cart and no MRP to measure a listing against.
Real prices come from marketplaces. On Shopsy, Flipkart’s value storefront, on 22 August 2026, men’s slippers carried MRPs of ₹349 to ₹1,149 and sold at ₹263 to ₹422. Sports shoes ran ₹1,049 to ₹4,999 MRP, selling at ₹674 to ₹1,679.
- Printed MRP
- ₹499
- Actual selling price
- ₹333
- Gap
- 33% below MRP
- Checked on
- 22 August 2026
That pair is one listing — Aqualite men’s flip-flops, blue and black, size 7 — sold by a marketplace seller called LottaEnterprises2012, not by a brand storefront. Aqualite runs no shop of its own, so a third-party seller is the nearest thing to a reference price.
Why the MRP is soft
A slipper printed at ₹1,149 that transacts at ₹359 carries a marketplace anchor, not a shelf price. Neighbouring brands behave differently.
| Line | MRP band | Actual selling |
|---|---|---|
| Aqualite slippers and flip-flops | ₹349 – ₹1,149 | ₹263 – ₹422 |
| Aqualite sports shoes | ₹1,049 – ₹4,999 | ₹674 – ₹1,679 |
| Relaxo Bahamas flip-flops | ₹209.50 – ₹334.50 | Same — no discount |
| Relaxo Flite slippers | ₹359.50 – ₹799.50 | Same — no discount |
| Sparx sneakers and shoes | ₹1,299 – ₹3,749 | ₹909 – ₹2,062 |
All bands checked on 22 August 2026. Sparx and the two slipper lines belong to Relaxo, Aqualite’s closest match — northern, Bahadurgarh-rooted, built on the same EVA and PU moulding.
In this corner of the market the stronger brand sells at its printed price, and Aqualite sells at a third off.
Who Aqualite is actually for
Aqualite suits the buyer who wants a ₹300 slipper that survives a monsoon and does not care whose name is moulded into the sole. On that job it competes squarely.
It is weaker higher up. At ₹674 to ₹1,679 the sports shoes sit in the most crowded band in Indian footwear, and the brand publishes no material data and no price of its own. A buyer at that level trusts a listing, not a brand.
Skip it if you want visible support behind the product. Aqualite lists 12 stores, nine in Delhi, and sells mainly through independent retailers — a distribution business with a dozen showrooms, not a retail chain.
Reputation and controversies
The most repeated fact about Aqualite is the wrong one. The ₹950 crore to ₹1,000 crore figure for FY2024 was a projection reported in an investor exit story, not a filing. The audited number came in far below.
- FY2022₹744.39 crore, with a loss of ₹22.93 crore
- FY2023₹928 crore, the peak, profit ₹22.36 crore
- FY2024₹727.75 crore audited, a loss of ₹3.81 crore
- FY2025₹774.03 crore provisional, profit ₹14.32 crore
Four filed years, two of them loss-making, and no ₹1,000 crore year among them.
CRISIL, 22 September 2023 and Infomerics, 25 July 2025.
For context, Bata India filed ₹3,489 crore for FY2025, about four and a half times Aqualite’s provisional figure. Aqualite’s bank facilities carry BBB−, the lowest rung of investment grade.
The Relaxo design case
Relaxo sued Aqualite in the Delhi High Court over the side ridges on a hawai slipper, alleging design piracy. A single judge granted an interim injunction on 8 October 2021. Aqualite appealed, arguing the design lacked novelty.
The appeal, FAO(OS)(IPD) 1/2022, was dismissed on 18 November 2025. The bench held Relaxo’s rectangular, crenellation-shaped side ridges were distinctly different from the prior art, and that Aqualite’s slippers bore them identically. That is interim relief upheld, not a final finding, but it has stood four years.
The private equity stake
Lighthouse India Fund III put ₹250 crore, about US$35 million, into Aqualite on 4 December 2018 for 16.4% of the equity, with the World Bank’s IFC co-investing up to US$10 million through a special purpose vehicle. An exit was reported as being sought in July 2024. In August 2026 the stake was still on Lighthouse’s portfolio page, with no completed sale found.
A search of Indian Kanoon, consumer records and news archives found only the Relaxo matter.
Buying it in India
Read the seller name, not the brand name
Aqualite runs no online storefront. The listing we priced came from LottaEnterprises2012, a third-party seller, so the seller rating does the work the brand will not.
There is no official price to compare against
Aqualite’s website publishes no MRP, and the ₹11 shown against every product on it is a placeholder, not a price. Any figure taken from that site is fictional.
Treat the struck-through MRP as decoration
MRPs run to ₹1,149 on slippers that transact between ₹263 and ₹422. A “68% off” badge describes the anchor, not the bargain.
Use the observed floor as a sanity check
Slippers below ₹263 and sports shoes below ₹674 sit under everything we recorded on 22 August 2026. Check size, seller and return terms.
Check the declaration on the box
Listings name the manufacturer as Aqualite Industries Pvt Ltd, Village Rohad, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar, Haryana 124507 — matching a group company’s registered office on the MCA record.
No published authentication tells exist for Aqualite footwear, and we found no evidence of a counterfeiting problem either way, so we are not inventing physical tests. Aqualite’s BIS licence position could not be checked, so treat it as unchecked rather than clean.
Common questions
Is Aqualite an Indian brand?
Yes. Aqualite Industries Private Limited is registered in Delhi and manufactures in Haryana and Rajasthan, under the Gupta promoter family. A Brazilian water filter company shares the name, which confuses many online summaries.
How much do Aqualite slippers cost?
Men’s slippers sold at ₹263 to ₹422 on Shopsy on 22 August 2026, against MRPs of ₹349 to ₹1,149. Sports shoes sold at ₹674 to ₹1,679. The brand’s site publishes no prices.
Is Aqualite a ₹1,000 crore company?
No. The ₹950 crore to ₹1,000 crore figure in circulation was a projection for FY2024, not a filing. Audited FY2024 revenue was ₹727.75 crore, with a loss. The highest year on record is ₹928 crore in FY2023.
Who owns Aqualite?
The Gupta promoter family, with Davinder Kumar Gupta as Managing Director. Lighthouse India Fund III took 16.4% in December 2018 and was reported in July 2024 to be seeking a buyer.
Did Aqualite copy a Relaxo design?
The Delhi High Court restrained Aqualite in October 2021 from selling a hawai slipper whose side ridges were found prima facie to copy Relaxo’s registered design. Its appeal was dismissed on 18 November 2025. The suit is still pending.
How we research and verify brand audits: our methodology.
References
- ZaubaCorp, Aqualite Industries Private Limited — CIN, incorporation on 26 August 1996, former name Freedom Footwear Private Limited, directors
- Aqualite, About Us — the 1981 claim and the “incorporated as Aqualite Industries Pvt. Ltd. in 1996” wording
- Aqualite, Corporate Profile — “Aqualite Footwear Industries”, ten plants, 4,00,000 pairs a day, retailer and distributor counts
- CRISIL Ratings, 22 September 2023 — FY2022 and FY2023 revenue and profit, Kassar and Bhiwadi plants, 4.29 lakh pairs a day, Lighthouse’s 16.4% stake
- Infomerics Valuation and Rating, 25 July 2025 — audited FY2024 and provisional FY2025 figures, BBB− rating, plant locations, capacity
- Aqualite, online store product listing — the ₹11 placeholder shown on every product
- Shopsy, Aqualite men’s slippers and flip-flops, 22 August 2026 — MRP and selling bands for slippers
- Shopsy, Aqualite men’s sports shoes, 22 August 2026 — MRP and selling bands for sports shoes
- Shopsy, Aqualite Men Flip Flops, 22 August 2026 — the ₹499 MRP against ₹333 selling price and the seller name
- Relaxo Bahamas product feed, 22 August 2026 — Bahamas prices, sold at MRP
- Relaxo Sparx product feed, 22 August 2026 — Sparx MRP and selling bands
- Amazon India listing, Aqualite anti-skid sliders — the Legal Metrology manufacturer declaration naming Village Rohad, Bahadurgarh
- Aqualite, Store Locations — the complete list of 12 stores
- M&A Critique, 4 July 2024 — the reported exit process and the ₹950 crore to ₹1,000 crore FY2024 projection
- Lighthouse Funds, 4 December 2018 — the ₹250 crore investment from Lighthouse India Fund III
- IFC disclosure record, project 42217 — the up to US$10 million co-investment through a special purpose vehicle
- Lighthouse Funds portfolio page, retrieved 22 August 2026 — Aqualite still listed as a holding
- LiveLaw, 18 November 2025 — the dismissal of FAO(OS)(IPD) 1/2022 and the 8 October 2021 injunction
- ThePrint, on the Relaxo design ruling — the side-ridge finding and Aqualite’s invalidity defence
- Screener, Bata India — FY2025 consolidated revenue used for comparison
At ₹263 to ₹422 a pair, Aqualite slippers do the job they are bought for, and the constant discounting means you almost never pay the printed price. As a maker of cheap moulded footwear at scale it is real: two rating agencies report capacity above 4 lakh pairs a day.
As a source of information about itself it is poor. Its site publishes no price, no declaration and no financial data, its incorporation story does not match the register, and the ₹1,000 crore figure attached to its name has never been filed — FY2024 came in at ₹727.75 crore with a loss.
Buy the ₹300 slippers with confidence and the ₹1,500 shoes with none — the product is worth more than the story.
