BANGALORE: One of the affordable places to live in India, the IT boom in the Garden City has ensured that the cost of living in Bangalore has shot up in the last decade.
With the Silicon Plateau being one of the prominent urban centres poised for a bigger boom in the coming days, the question of affordability for the middle income group is fast becoming an area of concern. "The income gap is wide at the moment,'' says KG Gayathri Devi, associate professor, economics, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC).
Consider kindergarten education to rentals to healthcare and even commodity price, people employed in sectors which do not witness such sharp hikes in income are the ones facing the brunt. "Even maid support on the domestic front comes at a huge price. I therefore have not been able to opt for one," says Kalpana S, a freelance content writer.
So for the students, who now need more money to run expenses through their week, to the homemaker and the professional, Bangalore is expensive.
According to a recent survey, Bangalore is the 38th cheapest place in the world for expatriates to live, out of a total of 276 international locations. "I often end up shopping for fruits and vegetables far in excess of what I need, thanks largely to their low cost," says Ema Trinidad, head of the Expat Club of Bangalore. From Philippines, her stay in Bangalore has been good in the last four years. However, shopping for western clothes and dining out burn a big hole in the pocket, she says.
QUOTE
The escalating cost of living is one of the fallouts of urbanization. In Bangalore, it is largely due to the boom in the software sector, professionals of which are highly paid. It is therefore becoming difficult for the middle income group, a sizeable number of which resides in Bangalore, to match up to the manifold shoot in the cost of living.
KG Gayathri
Associate professor, economics, ISEC
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