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Budhani Waferwala — Camp, Pune
Address: Block No 5, 323, MG Road, Camp, Pune, Maharashtra 411001, India Phone: +919272116906
Budhani Brothers Waferwala is one of Pune’s best-known traditional snack businesses, strongly associated with MG Road/Camp and its fresh potato wafers. The business began on 30 August 1955, when Madhavji Budhani started making wafers with his younger brothers Motilal and Mangaldas.
The story
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In 1955, the Budhani brothers started with only about ₹110 in capital, a small stove, household potato peelers/slicers and a frying pan.
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The brothers initially cycled around Pune selling packets of wafers, reportedly priced at just 2 annas per packet.
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Their first window shop was established on MG Road in 1964, and the business subsequently became known as Budhani Brothers Waferwala.
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The business later progressed from a small stove to coal and gas fryers and eventually automated production. In 1988, Budhani reportedly became one of the first Indian wafer businesses to use a stainless-steel, heat-proof fryer.
What is Budhani famous for?
The classic potato wafers remain the signature product. Other traditional items include:
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Salted potato wafers
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Masala wafers -
Tomato -
Cheese -
Banana wafers -
Potato salli — thin fried potato sticks
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Salted peanuts and cashews -
Dry-fruit chiwda -
Various savoury mixtures
Potato salli has a particular connection with Pune’s Parsi food culture; food features note its popularity among the Parsi community.
The old-shop atmosphere
There are several Budhani-associated shops around the Camp/MG Road area. One older location is on Taboot Street, while current listings also show the MG Road outlet.
A recent local listing describes the original-style shop as being tucked into a lane, with historic photographs and a three-generation family connection.
Budhani is interesting because it connects several parts of Pune’s history:
1950s family business → Camp/MG Road food culture → traditional Maharashtrian snacks → Parsi-influenced salli → modern packaged wafers.
It is also part of the food identity of Pune Camp, alongside places such as Kayani Bakery, Marz-o-Rin and Karachi Sweet Mart.
Interesting detail: the business’s own history is a nice example of how a very small family operation grew into a recognizable Pune food brand without losing its association with the original Camp location.
