Indian cities become costlier for expats to live in: Mercer

Strengthening rupee and growing aspirational demand has made four Indian cities "" Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai "" increasingly expensive for expatriates to live in, a latest global survey says.

Moscow has emerged as the most expensive city for the third consecutive year, according to the survey conducted by global consulting firm Mercer. It is followed by Tokyo, London, Oslo and Seoul, the top five cities in the 'Worlwide Cost of Living 2008' survey.

All cities in India rose in the cost of living ranking due to strengthening of the rupee against the US dollar, with Mumbai moving to the 48th place in the March survey this year, compared to the 52nd position in the same period last year, while the national capital New Delhi climbed to the 55th place from 68th a year ago.

Chennai and Bangalore also improved their positions to 117 and 118 ranks, respectively in the survey, which comprised 143 cities globally.

Last year, Chennai had been ranked at the 133rd position, while Bangalore was at the 134th place, the survey revealed.

"Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai are racing up the ladder from a cost of living perspective, having moved up over 12 ranks from Mercer's last survey conducted six months ago," said Gangapriya Chakraverti, Mercer business leader for information product solutions, India.

"A strengthening rupee and growing but unfulfilled demand for expatriate-style housing are factors that have contributed significantly to the changes in the ranking of Indian cities," Chakraverti added.

Mercer's survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

It is a comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine cost of living allowances for their expatriate employees.

Although the traditionally expensive cities of Western Europe and Asia still feature in the top 20, cities in Eastern Europe, Brazil and India are creeping up the list, while some locations such as Stockholm and New York now appear less costly by comparison, the survey revealed.

In Asia, Tokyo has emerged as the costliest city (2nd rank) followed by Seoul (5th) and Hong Kong at 6th rank. However, Karachi continues to be the least expensive city in this region holding the 141st place in the global ranking.

"Increase in rankings for cities such as Singapore and Philippines can be attributed to their highly valued quality of living and increasing attractiveness of Philippines as an alternative investment location to China and India," Mercer's Asia-Pacific Head of Information Product Solutions Neo Siew Khim said.