I Am Moving To Hyderabad: The Ultimate Cost Of Living Guide

Hyderabad, the Pearl City Of India, is a city well versed in traditions and cultures. The old world charm blends well with the fast-growing urban scenario in Haydar’s City (Lion-City). It is quickly evolving into a tech city, just like Bangalore. The city has grown manifold with the establishment of several corporate giants as well many educational hubs in the recent past. So, the city is a good mix of people coming from different parts of the country making the ‘Hyderabadis’ very welcoming and accepting.

Now, that you have decided to pack your bags and make way to this culturally rich city, the biggest concern must be the Cost Of Living. You must be worrying that the costs must be really high. But do not stress out much, this article will help you get an idea of the costs that you might incur during your stay.

Well, before we proceed there is good news for you, even though Hyderabad is growing and flourishing, the cost of living here is comparatively much lower than big metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. The city has many posh areas like Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills as well as mid-tier areas with good amenities like schools and hospitals. It has good connectivity and impressive infrastructure, making it one of the most desirable places to relocate for work and education.

Let us now talk in detail about the various subheads of the cost you need to take care of while you are in the city :

1. Housing :

Firstly, the cost of living totally depends on the area you are choosing to stay in. Secondly, you have options like PG or renting an apartment or a villa. Though 1BHK is not very prevalent, 2BHK or 3BHK are more common and easily available.

Area wise :

• Top Tech Parks: Hyderabad has grown rapidly into one of the top Tech Hubs and hence is divided into many IT Parks like Raheja Mindspace IT Park, The ‘V’ IT Park, Cyber Pearl, DLF IT SEZ, Cyber Towers, GMR Aerospace and Industrial Park etc. All of these IT parks are concentrated in areas like Madhapur, Gachibowli, Shamshabad etc. The rental rates range between ₹12K-35K, with lower end indicating the cost of 1BHK and the upper end indicating the cost of 3BHK. These areas are more popular for accommodation as these are in the vicinity of most workplaces and saves you the cost of commuting.
• Mid Tier Areas: These areas are mostly residential and have good infrastructure and many amenities are easily available like malls, hospitals, good schools and colleges making them close to the posh areas list.

• Posh Areas :

Jubilee Park and Banjara Hills are probably the poshest localities not only in Hyderabad but also in India. Housed by plenty of influential and financially well-off people, the rent for housing ranges between ₹25K-60K.

Accommodation wise :

The Security Deposit completely varies depending on the type of accommodation. There are very few places that take no deposit. Generally, for a PG it is a minimum of 2 months rent. For apartments/Villas, the security deposit can rise higher up to ₹2 lakhs depending on the accommodation type and the floor area.

Once you have zeroed down the area and type of accommodation, go for house hunting in person. Check the housing conditions, rental terms, security and locality before locking down anything. You can be prepared beforehand about the places you would want to hunt by posting or replying in facebook groups made specifically for house hunting like Flats and Flatmates(Hyderabad Chapter), Flats/Houses without Brokers in Hyderabad, Flats and Flatmates (Hyderabad) to name a few. You can also check many online websites and apps which provide rental housing options like Nestaway, NoBroker, Makaan etc.

2. Furnishing :

Once you move to a new house, the immediate concern is furnishing it. You can opt for unfurnished/ semi furnished houses to save on the monthly rent. The semi-furnished 2BHK homes start at a rate anywhere between ₹10K-20K and furnished homes can be really costly. You can save a lot by going to furnish your place by renting everything. There are many online spaces that deal with the same. You can check our website GrabOnRent to rent anything from furniture, home appliances, electronics to fitness products at good rental deals.

Let’s calculate the cost for you :

Suppose your monthly rent is ₹10K. Now you rent from us within an average range of ₹1000–1500. So, the total cost per month comes to ₹11K-11.5K. Even this can be divided among your flatmates if the sharing is between 2, the cost per head can ₹5.5K+

On the other hand, if you go for buying the products, EMI can sound like a small investment but it has longer commitments. Also, if you go for a well-furnished place, add an extra ₹10K-15K. Now you can make a calculated decision yourself and understand why renting is a much better and smarter option for you in any case. You can save a huge amount without any worry about moving furniture, appliances if you happen to relocate.

3. Utility expenses :

Summers are really hot and humid here so the electricity bills go up especially during that time to ₹1500–3000 while in winters the bill is up to ₹600–900. Other than this additional costs on gas, heating etc can make the total bill ₹2500–4000. If you share these expenses with someone you can manage these bills at ₹1250–2000 depending upon usage.

4.Food and Grocery expenses :

Hyderabad is known for its Biryani, Karachi Bakery and the popular Irani café culture. Other popular delicacies of the place are Mirchi ka Salan, Dum Pukht, Hyderabadi Marag, Keema Samosa, Paya, Boti Kabab to name a few. It also has different kinds of sweets like Shahi Tukda, Sheer Khurma etc, a haven for a sweet tooth. Even at 3 AM, you would find food at roadside shops if nothing else.

In short, Hyderabad is ‘Foodie City’, where you can relish over delicacies and not get tired of it. The expenses of these totally depend on you, whether you want to go eat at roadside shops or go to restaurants.

Park a cost of ₹1000–2000 a month for trying such delicacies. You sure do not want to miss on these while you are staying in Hyderabad.

Other than this if you stay in a PG, mostly your rent will cover your everyday food expenses. If you are staying on your own in an apartment, you can either cook by yourself or hire a maid for cooking and cleaning. Generally, the demand for maids is not very high here in comparison to Bangalore. But if you go ahead with it, grocery bills will cost around ₹2000–3000, while a maid would cost you ₹2000–4000 per month. Overall your food expenses can go up to ₹3000–5000 if you share with another person.

5. Transportation Costs :

The public transportation is well built and connected. It is easy to travel around the city using various public transportation like buses, suburban trains, auto rickshaw and cars. With the construction of flyovers over the past few years, traffic congestion has greatly reduced. There are more than 4000+ buses in the city to travel easily around the city, you just need to know about the timings of the buses. You can take a bus pass for daily commuting and get a monthly pass within a range ₹1000–3000 depending upon AC/Non AC. Metro is also built in the city with a minimum cost of ₹10 for 2kms and max ₹60 for more than 26km. You can also find metered auto rickshaws which are fairly cheap here. Other than this, you can use online cab apps for travelling to and fro. The city also has rental car services. All in all, there are many options and it depends on you to choose the option suiting your travelling needs. Anything within ₹1000–2000 a month on an average should cover your costs of travelling.

6. Entertainment Expenses :

Hyderabad has many places for weekend getaways, a perfect touristy place. You can visit the largest monolithic buddha, Ramoji Film City, Nizam’s Museum etc. Plus there are many pubs and bars to cheer up your weekends. The options are many and the cost depends on your choice of travel. You can keep aside a budget of ₹2000–4000 for an entertaining time.

Now that we have analysed the different expenses, lets now calculate the minimum range which a single individual needs to survive in Hyderabad in a 2BHK if it’s shared with another person :

Hyderabad has immense opportunities and it still remains an affordable place to live in, compared to other metropolitan cities. The living index is much better here and the infrastructure is noteworthy. It has constantly been ranked as one of the best places to live in, given the growing opportunities, well-built infrastructure, affordable living and rightly maintained law and order.

Nothing is impossible, with good research and smart planning you can survive in a city like Hyderabad without having to worry about your savings. Just some pro tips now that you can keep in mind :

• Use Google maps for directions and travelling.
• Download an expense tracker app to keep a tab on expenses and plan your daily, weekly and monthly expenses
• Keep applications like Uber/Ola, Payment apps etc to be better prepared for any contingency.

We understand that a new city can be exciting and intimidating at the same time and hence we believe that you might take a little while to adjust to the fast life but that’s how every new place is. But you can manage between ₹15k-23k if you share your accommodation with someone. And for renting furniture and appliances, you can visit us for the best deals and offers.

GrabOnRent is a Bangalore-based product rental startup. Visit our website or download the app and browse through our wide selection Visit us now!