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Mumbai - Cost of Living

Mumbai - Cost of Living

Old Apr 8th 2013, 10:52 am
  #1  
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Default Mumbai - Cost of Living

Hello All from a newbie of the site.

It is looking more and more like my wife and I (no kids yet) will be going to live in Mumbai for 2-3 years, we currently live in London.

I will be setting up the Indian/Asian arm of our company there and I have been asked to come up with a budget for my living expenses. Of course I have trawled through the site but could not find what I am looking for.

In short, any pointers from more experienced BE members would be hugely appreciated. The cost items I am looking for are:

- monthly rental of nice 2/3 bedroom flat in a modern complex, great location in Juhu with easy access to nice bars and restaurants, preferably with a nice view and pool/gym within the building (if such a thing exists)
- full time domestic help
- driver
- social/country club memberships
- any indications of cost of social life in general compared to central London. We like to go to nice restaurants.
- Anything else you can think of

I look forward to hearing from any of you out there and to hopefully meet up once I am out there.

Best
/patrik
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Old Apr 9th 2013, 4:56 pm
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

Originally Posted by Sueco
Hello All from a newbie of the site.

It is looking more and more like my wife and I (no kids yet) will be going to live in Mumbai for 2-3 years, we currently live in London.

I will be setting up the Indian/Asian arm of our company there and I have been asked to come up with a budget for my living expenses. Of course I have trawled through the site but could not find what I am looking for.

In short, any pointers from more experienced BE members would be hugely appreciated. The cost items I am looking for are:

- monthly rental of nice 2/3 bedroom flat in a modern complex, great location in Juhu with easy access to nice bars and restaurants, preferably with a nice view and pool/gym within the building (if such a thing exists)
- full time domestic help
- driver
- social/country club memberships
- any indications of cost of social life in general compared to central London. We like to go to nice restaurants.
- Anything else you can think of

I look forward to hearing from any of you out there and to hopefully meet up once I am out there.

Best
/patrik
The rental for the type of flat you describe in this particular area will be expensive and that combined with the life-style will only be for quite 'well-off' local people. (In fact purchase prices of flats in smart areas of Mumbai are sometimes more than London prices!)
It might be useful if you put a post on Indiamike Mumbai, which more expats will see. Although we have relatives in Mumbai I am unable to give any accurate info. about rental prices in Juhu.
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Old Apr 10th 2013, 11:03 am
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

Bipat - thank you very much for your reply.

Would it be fair to say that cost of living in this Juhu if you want to live well is similar to an expensive area of London, like Notting hill or South Kensington?

Best
S
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Old Apr 10th 2013, 11:15 am
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

The Foreign Office used to publish information like this for UK companies posting staff abroad, I think it was based on FO benefits/allowances.
The FO is now a pale shadow of its former self (being more or less a subsidiary of Kuoni) but it might be worth asking.

AndyD 8-)
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Old Apr 10th 2013, 4:40 pm
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

Originally Posted by Sueco
Bipat - thank you very much for your reply.

Would it be fair to say that cost of living in this Juhu if you want to live well is similar to an expensive area of London, like Notting hill or South Kensington?

Best
S
Hello Sueco

The rental costs of a luxury 3 bedroom flat, yes could be the same as central London.

The other costs will be less but depend what you want, for example most domestic helpers prefer to live out nowadays, basic cleaning, dishwashing and ironing will be far less than London.
Restaurants are very variable according to how fashionable they are and again your preference. Shop food prices again will vary, local food much cheaper than UK, imported European food expensive.
The best thing is to try other Expat or discussion sites to find someone living in that particular area. Or your Company must surely have contacts.
Regards
B
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Old Apr 25th 2013, 5:46 am
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

Hello Pratik..i am glad to know about you moving to Mumbai, i am a local born and brought up here in Mumbai itself so il be glad to provide you information or help you in any way possible...firstly Juhu is one of the expensive areas to live around as its housing to some of the celebrities and located near the beachside it would cost you atleast around 3-4000 pounds, cost of driver would be between 100-120 pounds..going out to restaurants occassionally on weekends would cost you atleast 30-50 pounds for 2 person depending as it would vary according to the ratings of the restaurant you wish to visit...i can provide you with more specific details if you can get in touch with me somehow....

thanks
Danish
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Old May 29th 2013, 2:45 pm
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

Not directly 'Mumbai', actually not at all, but I thought people might be interested in

Cost of Living for Goa

Goa Beach Shack Prices (Big Banana)

and

Goa Restaurant Calangute

Just got them finished 10 minutes ago, so please have a look and let me know if there's any mistakes....
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Old Jun 11th 2013, 11:45 am
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

Hi Patrik!

I just saw this post now. I am an expat real estate agent in Mumbai. Originally from London and now living here. Its definitely a good life!

So in response to your questions, depending on your work location either Juhu or somewhere like Bandra will be great for you. Powai is also an amazing area however a little disconnected from the rest of Mumbai.

Do let me know where you would be working so I can give you approx. timings to your office from both Juhu and Bandra. Both areas have sea-facing apartments and prices can be quite similar.

In Bandra a nice fully furnished 2BHK (that means Bedroom, Hall and Kitchen here) starts from 1 lac per month. This can go up to around 2 lacs depending on the building, apartment quality and view. There are cheaper apartments as well around the Rs. 60,000 mark and upwards however the quality is often much less and you don't get the view.

Cheap 3BHK's are available from 70/80k in some areas however based on my experience of expats and their requirements, good 3BHK's which we usually rent start from 1.5 lacs and can go up to 4 lacs depending on the quality of the place and the view. We regularly have sea-facing apartments in the 2-3lac range for 2 or 3BHK apartments. Inventory is always changing so its more about what is available at the exact time when you are looking.

Other things you mentioned:

Full time domestic help begins from 8,000. Most expats will spend around the 10,000/month mark and above. A lot of these helpers often have 3-4 jobs in a day so will be at one place for breakfast and cleaning, somewhere else for lunch and then another place at dinner. Sometimes a 4th in between as well! Hard working people!

Drivers are approximately 15,000 per month.

Club memberships vary a lot. I'm not fully aware of all the costs but I believe Sea Princess hotel in Juhu offer a membership for swimming which is approx. 20,000 for the year. This needs to be verified though.

Social life is great here. A lot of places to go out and meet locals as well as expats. Juhu, Bandra and Lower Parel are the good places to go out. For a good night out at a cheap bar you may spend around Rs. 2,000 but this can go up to 5k or 10k at some of the fancy places. But definitely a lot of good nights here! Its an amazing city for food. Good Mexican food is often hard to find as we don't have many options but there are awesome Italian restaurants (including Pizza Express from UK!) and Chinese food. The Indian street food is safe in a lot of places now and delicious!

Also note larger supermarkets like Reliance Mart in Santcruz, Hypercity in Malad (this is a little further), Big Bazaar in Lower Parel and Natures Basket which have multiple stores in Mumbai. Natures Basket is very very popular among expats though the prices for items such as olive oil, pasta, taco shells, some fruit, mozzarella cheese, halloumi cheese etc are sky high at this store!

Let me know if you need any other help. Have become a good scout here now!

Take care!
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Old Aug 9th 2013, 5:21 am
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Default Re: Mumbai - Cost of Living

(SNIP)

you will be able to see whether you will be better off transferring your pension to a QROPS.
You have nothing to lose and a potentially much wealthier and secure retirement to gain!

Last edited by Mitzyboy; Aug 9th 2013 at 8:13 am. Reason: Promotion comment removed
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