Cost of Living in Chennai

I am from Australia would like to open shop for Australian food and oil products. Please advise. Thank you.
Shah

I come from Amritsar and I am living in chennai from past 5 years. I have lived in Delhi, Mumbai and used to roam other parts of the country coz of my job. I come from proper punjabi family. so you can understand our culture are entirely different. Language, food habits, clothing, festivals, basic attitude of people everything is different. Even Gods are different here ( if you go to a temple in Chennai, u'll know). Only thing common here is we come from same country even we are separated by 2500kms. But thing which make me sustain here is people here are very calm, helpful. but that's also true u need to know english, Hindi won't work. otherwise, I never felt that kind of respect in the ppl language as compared to other part of country. you can't even compare it with delhi. whenever i go to delhi I been forced to use foul language (which we can proudly speak :) ) to negotiate ppl (auto wala, bus wala). but here in chennai nothing like that. I never faced any north indian discrimination here in 5 years. otherwise in 1 month itself i have faced 3-4 instances of language discrimination in open market in maha state. Rest cost of living, I think chennai is less costlier considering its rail, govt controlled bus fairs, movie tickets. It's true politicians are corrupt, well they are everywhere. But You can see govt expenditure for ppl easily. Rest of things like safety, good south indian food ( I like ghee roast very much) other ppl cmmntd. yes, Thats also true you can't compare chennai with bangalore or mumbai for there night life. chennai is more inclined towards maintaining there culture which other cities have shredded off. I can't blame anyone for this. In the end i ll say its upto you, what kind of life is more important to you. A guy from delhi, mumbai, banglore surley ll live here in little difficulty. but a guy like me from a town can live. Its up to you. it is honest review. Thanks

Hi, planning to move chennai with family of 3 members. What's the approx monthly expenditure to live in chennai . My daughter is have serious mosquito bite allergy so which place is best to live in that sense. Thanks

Chennai is a good place to live. Yes, it is over crowded now-a-days. Yet, Hope that after completion of underground Metro, ease of travel will be there.
Many unacceptable rules are prevalent in Chennai.
Unruly road behavior such as driving exactly opposite to another on-coming traffic. Many non-chennaites have migrated into Chennai. Lot of TASMAC (It is a hell)
But to address few issues, we have the freedom to do in our own way to execute as well.
Example: House to house garbage collection, road cleaning etc., using paid scavenger by group of like minded people. (Happening in our area!); engaging night patrol besides police patrol (through private money collection), patronizing Auto-rickshaw at our street end so that there will be a constant and decent charges and dependable transport for any aged person / children for essential transport.

Hai chennai is the hub for south indians.lot of companies giving jobs mainly to keralites for running tea shops esp nair tea shops.north indians coming to my tamilnadu and mentioning as heaven.5 star hotels and for poor people also live decently.all states have negatives for example literacy state like kerala have too much suicide alcoholism divorces.still they behave like super man.I say tamilnadu yet to get AIIMS and smart cities.we tamils work in our own states in india itself becz v having everything.jai hind

I (born and brought up in bangalore living in chennai) would say that chennai is better that the other metropolis..as ive been to of the 4 of 7 metropolis in india. Don't come to a conclusion after reading these comments below .I can accept to the only complaints of bad auto men.but on the other hand its the safest of all the 7 cities for women and found culturaly next to banglore. You can't find any red marks of panbarak here, you can rarely find some which are because of the bihari workers in construction fields. Traffic is just like the other metropolis. Its a city well connected with public transport in low cost unlike banglore were hiring an auto is cheaper than public transport. Its mainly about were you live in chennai . There are all kind of people depending on area you can classify them..another acceptable complaints from these comments are that you cant survive with hindi unlike other metropolis .you must know tamil or English to survive or at least a rubish english, Basically because of the patriotic people on their language and hindi is taught in no schools of chennai except the one and only kendra vidyalaya in iit campus. Because of the great boom in violence for two months in 1965 against hindi were 70 people killed due to lathi charge and open firing since then this is the fate (dont speak bad of tamil or proud of hindi in both case there's a possibility that you may be beaten). Its clean city depending upon the place you live .and by pollution control board ,its the least polluted of the 7 cities.in food you can get all kinds of food in world.for entertainment I promise that its the best city where no movie tickets are more than 120 rs.where in bangalore escape cinimas its 700rs the same escape cinemas in chennai is only 120 rs,because of the state government's rules in fixing the maximum as 120 rs .there are many malls , pubs, 5 star hotels are very common in chennai and cost of living is same as that of bangalore (in fact quite higher than banglore).Its the fourth largest city in india and 31st in world (some claim that banglore is the 4th largest but thats an error).you can say that chennai better than other metropolis in short.

Horrible, Horrible place to live in. Coming from Bangalore, i expected another city in the South to be comparable. First of all getting a house was such a pain, the houses i saw were dirty and looks like the owners never cleant them in decades. The mosquito problem is terrible. The people seem to think they have a superiority complex and it is ok to diss people who come from Bangalore because they are the main competitors to chennai-ites. Stupid backward mentality of the people, who pass judgement like they are born to judge by the attire of people. Looks like these fellows are born with a horn in their mouths as soon as they come out of the womb. They cannot stop honking, never mind that it is quite clear i cannot move because i have a huge ass truck in front of me which, i am sure they can see as well!! Terrible 2-wheeler riders. The people expect you to know tamil straight off as if its something taught to you from birth! Ignorant fools, even in a tech environment feel its ok to break into tamil in between crucial meetings despite knowing that there are quite a few folks who don't quite catch on.

Greetings,
Chennai is a place with fully cultured people
Respects others mainly.alcoholism strike suicide very less comp to nearby states.very decent govt green city chennai.metro soon to start.chennau is a hub for south indians. Rich poor can live.all states have positives negatives.get the positives.whoever wish to live in chennai register your details with the nearest police stations and get the emergency numbers.v indians should keep our country and chennai city clean.Best of luck

hi, myself amit from mumbai.
as i have born in mumbai .. i am finding difficult to shift to chennai.
as i don't have any of my friends in chennai.
i am worried about the social life . coz last when i visited i found people were soo boring.. so any one here in chennai from mumbai, so that atleast i get someone who can speak hindi ..lol

My GOD! Chennai should be named the garbage city of india. I live in Delhi, even if someone offers me a free apartment, I wont come to Chennai. Apart from pricy real estate, the people of Chennai is not easy to cope with. Culturally it was a shock when I lived in Chennai for 6 months. The people are socially messed up and very competitive in everything. I don't think there is any life in Chennai except garbage.

Hi Shweta.... Some of the area those kind. so many place very nice all are good . very secure place here.

Hello Guys is there any direct buses from Bangalore to Sholinganallur?

Chennai is the best big city for a non-vegetarian. Fish, rabbit, quail, buffalo, pork, turkey, crabs, and more.

A very tolerant place. It does not have ethnic riots like Bangalore. if you are West Indian (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Sindh, Maha, Goa), it is a calm city unlike Delhi. do the "Sindhi Test"- cities where the Sindhi have thrived, like Chennai, are great cities.

also great for Christians. Almost no chance of fanatics targeting you anywhere in Tamil Nadu

Hi, I'm planning to move to Chennai. I would like to know what would be the approximate cost of living for a bachelor per month??? I'm basically from Bangalore and my mother tongue is tamizh.....

Folks,

Chennai is one of the worst places to live. The society is least cosmopolitan and if you are from North just forget about social life. Tamils society is socially not structured for diversity and most tamil live for others and in constant comparison mode. I would highly recommend not to put your kids in this place during school.

Above all this is garbage city of india and most unclean state of india. POS.

regards,

Hi everybody,
I am coming to Chennai very soon and my friend is also coming with me we gonna join Accenture there but one thing i would like to know is can we two get a single bed room house in a range 5 to 6k.

Regards,
Karthik

Hello all, I am shifting to chennai in couple of months. I am a bachelor, For the first year of training period my stipend is really very less, it is 10k. But I have my friend along with me who will be sharing an apartment with me. Would I be able to manage in 10k?

Chennai in nut shell

Bit on the hotter side if you are from cold climate. Humid as hell due to coastal influence.
Cost of living is same as Bangalore except for veggies and meat which are costly due to transportation cost. Fish is cheap and fresh.
Heavy traffic esp. due to underground Metro rail work and too many vehicle in too less place.
Must know Tamil or English to survive (never speak ill about Tamil in Chennai). Telugu and Malayalam comes second and third.
Great food all over the city.
Highly conservative crowd, most will take time to socialize, but hospitable people.
Good education, lot cheaper than Bangalore.
Great place to live if you like it super hot.

Chennai like any other Indian city is full of people on streets. Majority of them have a very low level of living standard. They speak only local language and have no exposure to the world much(there ignorance even though foreign media, tv and news is available to some extent.) Roads are full of people and governance next to nill. Corruption is very high with sights of policemen accepting bribe witnessed by me several times on the street. Public transport buses are a nuisance as during office hours and generally too one has to travel in overcrowded buses standing. Filth and trash is all over especially in housing areas where people lives. In housing colonies there is no proper cemented or decent roads and in monsoon rain it looks like muddy and filhy with lots of water clogged and making ponds of water. Public transport is highly inadequate and three wheel rickshaws take advantage of this and transport people, school children in overcrowded rickshaws. Educated people do not vote as politicians never address them or come up with promises(some exceptions are there though with few newly formed party members doing or trying to do good job). Politicians only go to millions of extremely poor people living in shanties and small congested homes in some filthy area of the city and make there promises to them for there votes. In a nutshell living condition in India is a very low level and I truly mean it.

I lived in Chennai for 25 years, and no complains. Just because of Auto drivers, you cannot say a city is bad. Nowadays there are so many cabs available also recently metered autos are available.

If you are in IT, there are so many opportunities in Chennai. Crime is very less compared to other cities.

I would say 40-50 thousand for a good life in Chennai.

Although the cost data seems accurate but the pie- chart distribution seems incorrect.

Transportation has been shown equal to rental and markets expenses are twice the rentals. Assuming one pays Rs 10,000 for 2 bedroom apartment then he/ she would pay Rs 10,000 for transportation too. I think that's only possible if someone drives around 15 - 20 kilometres to office. If monthly pass for sub- urban train is taken then the max monthly cost will be around Rs 300 to 500 (first class). Transportation is pretty cheap if one opts of local buses and sub- urban trains, but they are overcrowded during peak hours.

Markets can't be so high relative to rentals, especially in Chennai. Even after eating non - vegetarian food every day, provided food is cooked in home, the cost will be equal to rentals. Places like Alandur (St Thomas Mt) and Saidapet have amazing markets and if you live in these areas, monthly market expenses will be either equal or lower than apartment rentals.

Not sure what is the composition of utilities, but if it is apartment maintenance charges, water charges, electricity, and telephone bills then altogether it will be more than Rs 1000 per month i.e. 10% of the rental charges (assuming Rs 10,000 for rentals). Depending on water scarcity of the place you are living, water charges may be exorbitant especially in summers. For example at the base of hills in Pallavaram area one water tanker of 6000 litres will cost Rs 800, more than double of Rs 350 elsewhere in city.

Apartment rentals have risen steadily especially after metro rail construction started. But don't expect to take advantage of HRA while living in Chennai as most landlords are not ready to share their PAN numbers.

Pollution like other metro cities in India has also risen in Chennai. Couple of challenges one may face in Chennai
- Water quality and availability
- TASMAC (wine shop) patrons everywhere
- Heat and humidity, almost nil rain compared to other bigger cities of India
- Auto drivers, although recent changes have led to adoption of meters. Still for the folks who don't know Tamil it’s really a nightmare

Hi, Dears,

Chennnai become big toiled boll, every where smelling of urinary nook and corner , dust as well as vehicle pollution normally in ever big city but in chennai the worst. In royapuram (chennai) drainage odor frequently arise at home, ever street in night you must have torch light to see your footage because of shit will pass on, rested house became horrible every government unable to check rent under rent control act,must be fuck off.. Even drinking water is so costly: smell of drainage water. we back to 17 the century now . Not IT people, dam middle class people will ran to hell. Welcome to biggest hell in chennai only..

The report is good but the real thing one can realize only when you live in Chennai. Being a Tamilian, I should not say this but the worst place in Tamil Nadu is Chennai. I stayed in other parts of Tamil Nadu and also stayed in capitals of some other states but only in Chennai, I prayed for transfer. In Chennai, the autos are thieves in uniform with rights to steal openly in the name of fare. Pollution is the hallmark of Chennai and poor sanitation with worst roads are identity of Chennai. We can somehow manage to some extent but people who earn less than 30000/- per month can not think of any other things except leading mediocre daily life and saving something for future. For Groceries, if you want a good quality ones, you will have to sacrifice so much. Safety is there to some extent. Majority of the schools are selling Education and the quality education depends on the currency's quantity. The following things are so costly that people can not avoid - Tailoring, Groceries, Autos for commuting, Rent for houses, Maintenance in Apartments, etc. So please do think twice before you think of Chennai for living.