Moving to India - a bunch of questions

HighAir

Hi,

I am new to this forum. I am a 26 years old single male. Most probably I will move to Mumbai at the end of this year. My company plans to send me there to open a new office. This will be a two man show, a local colleague (he works from his home office at the moment) and me and most likely a secretary which I will have to hire when I arrive. I will have to stay in Mumbai for at least three years as I will sign a contract for this period. I will work there as the general manager of our office. We are dealing with chemicals so I will be in charge for sales to India and purchases from India.

As you can imagine I have a lot of questions now as this is a very exciting step in my life. I have already been in Mumbai for several times (1 – 2 week business trips each) so I somehow know what I have to expect.

As I am working for a middle sized company there are some advantages and some disadvantages. It is not like with big companies where the mother ship beams you to a new spot and everything is ready. I will arrive in Mumbai and there will be nothing. I will have to find a flat as well as an office. I will have to buy furniture and electric equipment for the office etc. This will be a real challenge and I look forward to this.
The big advantage is that I can choose the places. After reading a lot in different forums and books I think that Bandra (West) would be a good place. My Indian colleague lives in Andheri West so if I chose the office to be in Bandra he would not have to travel too far. Furthermore it is relatively close to the airport, it is not too far away from the city centre and as I heard it should be a nice place to live with bars and restaurants and clubs etc. What do you think about this area?

Now first figures came into play and I would like to know what you think about it. At the moment I live in Hamburg, close to the city centre in a nice flat, so called 2 BHK. This flat has 80 sqm (approx 850 sqf). The monthly rent is EUR 800 (approx USD 1250). The company’s aim is that I should at least be able to keep my standard. Thus they are willing to pay a grant for the flat of EUR 2000 per month (approx USD 3100) on top of my income. So what I want to spend for a flat in Mumbai is around EUR 2000 – 2500 (approx USD 3100 – 3900). I am looking for an unfurnished flat as I want to ship my furniture to India. Do you know whether there are flats available in Bandra (West) in this size and price range, which are in good conditions and in a nice area?

In addition to this EUR 24.000 grant for the rent (approx USD 37.000) my annual income should be EUR 51.000 (approx USD 80.000) before tax. From this income I will have to pay half cost of a private health insurance (other half paid by the company) and half cost of a life insurance as retirement arrangement (other half paid by the company) as well as taxes. A car will be paid by the company as well as a driver. Will it be possible to keep a certain western standard with this income and possible even put some money aside?

I really look forward to receiving your replies as I do not have the experience in living in Mumbai that you may have.

Best regards,
Ben

Nick-H

Welcome to the site

I hope one of our Mumbai experts will be along soon!

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Familyonthemove

Hi High Air ....

For a 26 year old, Bandra is a good choice, as there's plenty of restaurants, bars etc. However, prices for apartments have escalated over the last year, so you'll be pushing the top end of your budget if you want something nice. Rental is calculated on a per sq ft basis, so it's possible to get something reasonable if it's around 850 sq ft, but it will take some searching.

Where are you planning to set up the office?

Travel across Bombay (East/West) is tough, but travel up and down (North/South) is easier, although traffic is always a problem.

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HighAir

Thanks for your replies so far.

As I can choose the place where the office should be I will for sure take a place close to my home :-)
I am thinking about Bandra for the office, too. Maybe Bandra Kurla Complex.

HighAir

Another question:

Has anybody experience in shipping his furniture to India? I plan to bring my furniture and all the electronical devices like TV, computer etc. to India. Will ship it with help of an international relocating agent.

Will there be trouble with the customs in Mumbai?

Nick-H

There is a standard piece of advice on this: "You can furnish your Indian home for less money and hassle than it costs you to ship your stuff here".

I think that advice is very true, but there are all sorts of reasons why one would disregard it. I not only shipped my stuff from UK, but spent almost as much again on warehousing it in UK and then India.

If you use a relocation agent, or international shippers, they will handle all of the customs formalities and duty payment. You should, by the time your goods arrive, be resident in India, ie be registered and have a residents' permit --- you can then take advantage of "Transfer of Residence" scheme, which allows you to bring limited amounts of electronics and white goods duty-free, or at greatly-reduced duty rates.

The_Londoner

Bare in mind that the India do use Pal B and G system, so you may not be able to use your TV.

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HighAir

Thanks for the advice.

Anyway the problem is that here in Germany I do not know where to store all my furniture. Furthermore I do not even know how ling I will stay in India, maybe it will be much more than three years. I will not keep my flat here and at my parent's flat there is no place for my stuff. Thus I could either store it here in Germany (costs money and I do not know how long I will stay in India) or sell it (this is only possible with big loss).
The costs for the relocation would be paid by the company. They cannot say “you will live in India for a couple of years but your belongings have to stay here”. Thus they will pay for it. And I would have to ship a container anyway. Even if I would not want to ship my bed, table, wardrobe, sofa etc. I still would have to ship my TV, computer, books, DVDs and all this kind of belongings (my TV can work with PAL, NTSC and SECAM, so no problem with this one).

I can still replace some of the items when in India. Some of them will most likely not survive the first Monsoon as some are made from compressed wood. However disposal should be easier in India and I will buy a replacement when necessary.

So my plan now is the following:
- get a relocation agent who puts everything in a container and who ships the cargo to Mumbai
- find a flat in Mumbai
- get the resident’s permit
- finish everything with transfer of residence scheme

I think this should work well.

One question regarding the resident’s permit. At the beginning I will live in a hotel (until I found a flat and until my furniture is in the flat). Will I have to get the permit already when living in the hotel or will I have to get it after moving in my flat or will I have to get one when living in the hotel and change it when moving to the flat? Question, questions, questions…

Oyar

I think the amounts you have mentioned should be suitable enough for a good western standard of living. Bandra is the right place to stay. However, finding a good place to stay is not going to be easy.

As nick has suggested, it would be easier to simply buy furniture & electronics in India. Especially electronics, the prices here are amongst the cheapest in the world & u do get good quality stuff here.

I live in bandra ... let me know if you need any more info.

Good luck with the transfer.

Nick-H

Enough said! Ship it!

Oyar, if you check out the prices of electronics in UK, try a few web sites, it will make you sick to think what we pay in in India! Stuff like big TVs is very expensive here. The bargain hunter in UK can get much cheaper.

And they tell me that UK is expensive compared to US, Far East,, and so on!

Computers are not included in that as the government is relaxed about duty on these items. It is high on other consumer electronics.

Oyar

I think you are right .. for big screen TVs etc, may be cheaper .. & yeah .. if company is paying .. why not. Its a relative decision .. depends on the condition of items. An alternative would also be to sell of existing stuff & ask company for the relocation expenses .. & use it to buy new stuff .. not sure if it would work out though.

HighAir

I already learnt that finding a flat (especially 2 BHK with "only" approx 800 sq ft carpeted area) will not be easy. However I will have time as the company is willing to pay for a hotel for up to three months. So this should be enough time to find a flat if I arrange meetings with real estate brokers daily :-)

I think I will really ship my goods. My TV is a big, new LCD, replacing this wont be cheap in India. Some of the other furnitures (bed, sofa etc) are branded ones, good quality, they should survive the wheather conditions in India and selling them would be a very big loss.

Thanks for your help!

Nick-H

One aspect of the life in India is very irregular voltages and frequent power cuts. You will need to buy 'stabilisers' for your precious electronic stuff, not to mention UPS for your computer.

No big deal; just part of life here. I guess you'll find more about this sort of stuff in the geek (electronics in India) forum here.

HighAir

Thanks for this useful hint, too. Already read about this. These stabilizers will be one of my first deals when in Mumbai ;-)

Another topic, additional questions: CAR! My company will pay for a car. However getting a car will be my job. Are there long term rents for cars? Is car leasing popular like for example in Germany? Or will we have to buy a car? Anybody with experience in this field?

squidward

I do agree you can keep a western standard living with this budget -- sounds like the real expensive items (house +car) are paid for. You should certainly be able to get a very nice 800sf 2bhk apt for 2500EUR, perhaps even with sea view.

Leasing is not very common here, though I imagine the service does exist. When I'm here on work my company shells out for daily rental (2000rs/day), but I work for more of a mothership type. The bonus with the car rental is that it includes a reliable driver -- finding one of these, especially who speaks english, can be very tricky on your own.

As for the permit, are you for sure staying here longer than 6 months without returning home for a visit? If not you will not need a permit at all. If so, you will need to register within 15 days of arriving and get your permit then. Hopefully you will not need to make any updates when you move to the apt, but they will let you know at the FRRO. Best thing is just to call the FRRO when you get here and ask them exactly what is needed, so you get the most up-to-date hoops to jump through.