Mumbai Living Costs

nadrom

Hi, I'm a first time user to the site & need some basic help. I'm potentially moving to Mumbai with my wife & daughter in Jan/Feb 09 from the UK on a 2 year contract.

I understand Bandra is the place to rent, but whilst living expenses are lower than the UK, can anyone help with how much gas, electric, internet, satellite & mobile costs are on average per month?

Many thanks! Nadrom....

waspiesbeast26

mumbai is a costly place ...if its in bandra the average expenses would be
a two bed room flat - 30 000
electricty - 3000
gas - 600
water - 500
internet - 1000 a month depending upon the speed
mobile on average 3000 per month..
food and others - depending upon..

Shipnil

I guess by gas Nadrom meant Gasoline/Petrol. That should expensive than UK. I think a ballpark figure of 4/5 rupees per km is what you should look for from your car. You can calculate the monthly expense based on your usage.

judecg

I think you'll find an apartment in Bandra is a lot more than 30,000. I would estimate more like 70,000+ That was prices a year ago... may be more now. Buildings in Bandra are mostly older too... be very careful. It might be the area where there is more happening (fun, restaurants etc)... but you'll find a better standard of living as far as the quality of apartments go in areas like Andheri West/Lokhandwala.

Coming from the UK... the heat could be tough for you. You'll probably want a/c. This will push up your electricity bills a lot. We have 3 in our apartment... only use one at a time... living room for part of the day, and bedroom at night. Our bills have gone from 7,000 a month to a whopping 17,000 before the monsoon. We are trying not to use it too much ... maybe 15 hours a day approx.

Water into the house is probably free. Bottled water is approx 70 rupees for a 20 litre bottle (like the water cooler ones), or 12 for 1 litre.

Internet can be a big hassle. Don't mess about with the smaller companies... Reliance now has broadband which is wireless and cheaper than a lot of the alternatives and relatively speedy. Not like you have in th UK though We pay 2300 a month for just over 1 Mbps unlimited.

TV/cable... we use Tata Sky (a dish) which seems fine. Costs approx 300 a month for lots of great channels. They now have recordable tv.. like Tivo.. we don't have that... costs quite a bit more but you can look at their website.

Food really depends on whether you are buying imported things or local products. Costs vary greatly. If you are cooking western food, plan on spending a lot more on ingredients than you would in the west (depends... not sure of costs in UK).

Gas cylinders for cooking cost around 500 per cylinder. Some houses have gas pipes.

Hope that helps a bit.

nadrom

Hi, Thanks for your reply, the information is very useful. I will be based in Lower Parel, and looking on the map, Bandra seemed to be an okay distance commute wise. Do you have an idea of how long the commute would be from Andheri West to Lower Parel? Thanks again for your help.

judecg

Hmm.... asking my friends ... they are saying 45 minutes or so.. maybe less if no traffic. You have to just assume everything will take a long time here, and not be a pleasant ride (though if your job provides you with a car and driver you can at least read in the a/c on the way). It could be a bit far, though not in Mumbai terms.. It really depends if you were near the highway or not. If not... add more time. Have a look on Wikimapia (hybrid view shows area names) and see what you think.

Maybe other IM'ers can suggest other good places to live too.

Familyonthemove

I agree with the other posters about Bombay being expensive. A family moving from the UK will really need a decent apartment with a good standard of maintenance in the right area ... and this is expensive with prices comparable to London. I reckon that £2000+ / Rs. 140,000 per month plus is nearer the mark for something good in Bandra, although prices may be on the way down, and if you run the a/c all day while you are getting used to the heat, that will Rs. 6000 per month. Ceiling fans are a good alternative to a/c, at least for night time.

I would recommend Juhu .... it's not too from Bandra, close to the International School, there's a beach and it's near the Marriott Hotel. You will need a good club membership, such as the Marriott, or The Club, to get away from the dust and chaos at the weekend and to host the compulsory (and competitive) children's parties. A good driver will make things much easier ... so be willing to pay a realistic amount to retain an English speaking driver who know's his way around the jams. I'd also recommend you budget for a good car .... Honda CRV is ideal, or a Main Battle Tank.

Many adventurous travellers will be able to live happily at less than a tenth of my suggested costs, but if you are taking your wife to Bombay, expect to pay for some serious pampering to keep her from running back home.

Good luck. The people are incredible, but Mumbai is a tough living environment, travel is time consuming and Indian working hours are a marathon and the monsoon is tough. Plan for the family to be out of Mumbai from July to September if possible.

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