How to find business contact numbers in any Indian city

Where business phone numbers come from

Most business phone numbers in India are public somewhere. The work is collecting them, checking them and getting them into one sheet. These are the usual sources:

• Google Maps and Google Business Profiles. Good for shops, clinics and offices with a storefront. You copy one listing at a time, and many show only a landline or a call-centre number.
• Local listing sites such as Justdial, Sulekha and IndiaMART. Plenty of numbers, but one business at a time, often behind a login, and the same business can appear several times.
• Trade associations and chambers of commerce. Member directories are accurate but cover only members, and many are printed or sold separately.
• Government registers. The GST taxpayer search shows a business's legal name and address, and the MCA company master data shows a registered company's address and email. Neither gives you a mobile number.
• Trade fairs and exhibitions. Exhibitor lists are a good source of manufacturers and wholesalers in one industry.
• Ready-made contact lists. Someone has already collected and cleaned the numbers for a city or an industry. This is what Starleads sells.

What to check before you buy a contact list

A list is worth only the numbers that still work and reach the right person. Before paying for any list, from us or from anyone else, check five things:

1. A real sample. Ask for real rows, not a screenshot. Every Starleads list shows 60 real contacts on its page and has a free Excel sample.
2. Field coverage. How many rows actually have a mobile number, an email or a contact name? A list of 10,000 businesses with 30% mobile numbers gives you 3,000 numbers to call.
3. Duplicates. The same shop listed under three spellings wastes three calls. Ask whether the list was de-duplicated, and on what: mobile number, email, or name and address.
4. When it was built. Businesses move, close and change numbers. A list should tell you when it was last cleaned.
5. The format. An Excel file with one row per contact and separate columns for city, locality and PIN code is far easier to work with than a PDF.

Lists for India's biggest business cities

Each city page below shows every industry list for that city, with its number of contacts and how many have a mobile number. 179 cities and 26 states have their own page; you'll find them all under cities and states.

If you want every business in a city rather than one industry, start with its business directory:

• Mumbai Business Directory: 8,12,857 businesses, 80% with a mobile number (every Mumbai list).
• Hyderabad Business Directory: 6,81,109 businesses, 92% with a mobile number (every Hyderabad list).
• Bengaluru Business Directory: 5,68,261 businesses, 98% with a mobile number (every Bengaluru list).
• Chennai Business Directory: 4,90,638 businesses, 85% with a mobile number (every Chennai list).
• New Delhi Business Directory: 4,28,859 businesses, 96% with a mobile number (every New Delhi list).
• Pune Business Directory: 4,03,269 businesses, 92% with a mobile number (every Pune list).
• Kolkata Business Directory: 2,73,812 businesses, 84% with a mobile number (every Kolkata list).
• Ahmedabad Business Directory: 2,53,450 businesses, 98% with a mobile number (every Ahmedabad list).

For the whole country there is the All-India Business Directory with 1,02,88,898 businesses, delivered as one workbook per state.

How to work through a city list

1. Start with one locality. Sort the sheet by locality or PIN code and work one area at a time. It's easier to mention a nearby customer, and to plan visits.
2. Call mobiles before landlines. A mobile number usually reaches the owner or manager; a landline often reaches the front desk.
3. Use the category column. A "Doctors & Clinics" list holds dentists, physiotherapists and labs as well as general physicians. Filter to the ones your product is for.
4. Keep notes in the same sheet. Add columns for "Called on", "Outcome" and "Next step". After a week you'll know which areas and categories respond.
5. Respect people's choices. Check numbers against the TRAI NCPR (Do Not Disturb) registry before any promotional call or SMS, say who you are, and stop contacting anyone who asks you to. The 7-day calling plan covers this in more detail.