Retiring in Kolkata

senx2660

Hi I'm a Canadian that has OCI status and i was wondering how much money i would require to live comfortably in Kolkata per year. Housing is not an issue for me as I own some property in North Kolkata and am currently building a house. We plan on renting a 3 room flat with a washroom and kitchen, and a 2 room flat with washroom and kitchen while living upstairs. Can anyone tell me how much we should be charging people for renting these flats?

Also, the essentials for me to live comfortably include food, water, electricity, television, mobile phone and internet. I also plan on using public transportation. If anyone could help in my research of finding out how much these cost, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help

nayan

senx2660

welcome to Indiamike.

Living cost in India varies very widely across socio-economic levels.
a family of 4 can live on rs 10000 a month and call them selves middle class as well as a family of 4 living on Rs 200000.

This site has a lot of info on moving back to india costs etc. the costs donot vary much accross cities in India(other than accomodation).

Mod Note: moved thread to expat forum - moving to kolkata

Thoughtcrimes

I know cellular phones are far cheaper than in North America. Am told for local calls it may cost you about 500rs per month. And they don't have those lousey two year contracts like they do in the west, it's typically month to month.

As you might expect, rents vary widely depending upon location. But it seems a decent one bedroom apartment might cost on an average of 10-15,000rs per month.

__________________
"I speak a strange language, sometimes even I don't understand." - D. Iyall

nayan

look at the botom of this page and you will find the section "similar threads".

you can look at this thread for your reference too
Retire in India and live off interest payments?

copying some information I had posted in another thread

A very rough estimate : true for about any city/town in India.

1. utilities - Rs 1000 - will be much higher if you have AC in your apartment.

2. groceries/vegetables etc for a family of three - Rs 6000-8000 pretty good unless you are in the habit of buying a lot of imported brands.

3. petrol for car - depends on usage. its about Rs 50 per litre and most small cars have a milage of about 15-20 km per litre avg.

4. Driver - Rs 5000-6000 per month (may be a little more as mussoorie is a tourist place and you may need to pay more to get someone to work for you in preference to travel agencies).

5. Maid - A part time maid(will come every day - wash utensils/ clean floors/wash clothes and any other small errands)Rs 500 avg.

6. Internet - Rs 500 to 1000 a month. connections are generally much slower than broadband in the west so you wont feel like doing major media upload/download.

senx2660

Thanks for your help, does anyone know where I can find information on English medium schools in Kolkata and how much they cost?

I will be moving to Dum Dum if that helps in finding more information.

rahulcal

Spent 10 years in that city so will try and answer some questions -these are guesstimates but should be useful

- Cost of living wise Kolkata is one of the cheapest Indian Metros . The 3 BHK that you want to rent out should get you anything between 8 k- 14k depending on other factors like location etc. Try The Telegraph site or the Statesman site - the classifieds there should be able to help you get an idea though magicbricks also may be of help.

- Utlities would be at most 2.5 k per month

- Public Transport -at least which you may be abkle to use - would be the metro ( tube) or taxis - I think the cab rate is just now Rs 6.5 per km - reasonably cheap.

- Schools - in North Cal your best bet would be to look at schools in New Town area . N Cal itself has few really good schools - try DPS ( Delhi Public School) - they have a New Town branch. New Town incidentally is a new township ( Duh!) coming up near the air port a la Salt Lake.

Over all I think 25 k is a good number but then these things can vary depending upon the individual

nayan

I have myself studied in such a school in dumdum But that was more than a decade ago.

If its for a girl then I can definitely recommend Auxilium Convent School in dumdum

I have no idea about the present scenario - but till 10 years ago good english medium school(good academic results) near dumdum would be
1. auxilium convent(girls)
2. julian day school (co-ed)

Now there is a new DPS(delhi public school)near rajarhat.

These schools are not very expensive.

If you are staying in rajarhat/new town then most good schools in central kolkata also become a possibility

ChrisHayes

As I put in the other thread in this sub forum we checked out schools in Kolkata for our 8 year old daughter. Delhi public school was the best facilities wise but results seemed to hinge on the quality of tutition recieved out of school. Inside the school classes were large and teaching traditional.
The girls convent (I forget the name) that has branches throughout the city upset my wife greatly. She studied in missionry schools as a child in Bihar and Delhi and it was nothing like them. Instead it was reminisent of astate school. I think having no competition in that price band has made them somewhat lazy. I couldn't even get a propestus or tour of the school from them and my wife only managed to be told to write an application on a piece of paper and they would consider it in April.
The other schools were fairly average English medium schools that you find all over India for better or worse.
We went for the Calcutta International School largely because we felt it had the best teaching and is easier to transition to than the Indian system from the west (our daughter hated the English Medium school she went to in Delhi for a month). It also has the widest mix of students and I think the most foriegn students.
Cost breakdown for it is
Building fund deposit 25000
Other deposit 9200
Membership fee 1000
Stationary fee 750
Tutition fees 9200
Seesion fees 4000 (4000 per term with two terms, we joined after the first term).
And the one off admission fee for a foriegner....... 150000!

Something else to consider is the date you can join and whether or not they will let you join mid session.

As for rentals go to a site like magic bricks of 99 something or other and enter your area. Then go see those flats yourself to contrast and compare. Also find out the likely demand. And then price accordingly. if you can see a demand for furnished its worth kitting out the houses as the rent can be 25% more it seems.

cyan

I have lived in Kolkata for nearly 4 months and I really don't think it is a good place for settling down.
No that I don't like kolkata. realistically there are three annoying factors: one is pollution. I lived in Beijing for 8 years and I had thought it was most heavily polluted, but now I find Kolkata far worse. I suppose it will be even harder for someone from underpopulated Canada.
traffic is awful, and pollution and traffic sometime is the same problem. buses hardly move in rush hours and taking taxi with window openning( no AC) the gas discharge attacks your breath and eyes.
another problem is mosqhito bites. it is there all-year-round. yes we can use odomos and mosquito net but it is annoying just like you are taking insulin everyday.

Of course if you are OK with the above said. Kolkata is nice: people are friendly, accomodation is cheap. I suppose you can live on 20000 per month and your rooms for rent can earn you that much if the location is good and well furnished.