The fire in Lucknow, the capital city of northern Uttar Pradesh state, started from the middle floor of the three-storey commercial building located in a residential area and soon spread to other levels.
"Fourteen children from happy families were killed in the incident," the state’s deputy chief minister, Brajesh Pathak, told reporters, adding four others were injured in the blaze.
It was not clear whether all of the dead were students.
Multiple students jumped from the upper level of the building on to the street below to escape the flames, witnesses told an AFP reporter.
Indian TV showed images of the flames leaping out from the front facade of the building as firefighters struggled to put out the fire.
