In a semi-annual survey of occupancy costs conducted by property consultant,
C B Richard Ellis, for comparable class 'A' office space in 155 metros around the world, cities were ranked according to their rentals.

According to the ranking, London (West End) is still the most expensive location for office space in the world at $146.33 occupancy cost. Next comes Tokyo with $122.34 followed by London (City) at $112.3.

In India, the office market continues to slip further against the global market rents. While Mumbai is ranked 11th most expensive city in the world, as against it's 8th rank last year, New Delhi's ranking slipped to 32nd from 28th last year. The fall in occupancy costs in both cases were attributed to relocation of corporate tenants to suburban areas, where newer buildings offering high quality construction and state-of-the-art infrastructure are relatively much more cost effective. While Mumbai's occupancy cost has dipped 29% to $56.90 per sft, New Delhi's is now down to $40.84.

Cost of Living Index

The ET Intelligence Group that compiled the latest cost of living index survey, studied eight major cities across India with a focus on the higher middle income category households to find out how spending patterns vary across these cities. The survey first drew up the consumption basket with quantities for a representative family and then covered prices of about 50 items, ranging from grocery items to fruits and vegetables to even services like an ordinary haircut.

What they came up with is that Mumbai is the costliest city to live in, while Hyderabad is the cheapest. After Mumbai, Delhi emerges as the second costliest city, followed by Bangalore, Pune and Chennai. On the other hand, the relatively cheaper cities to live in are: Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. So, if you are in Hyderabad, live life kingsize!

The differences in the cost of living across major Indian cities are quite substantial. But if you look closely, there are just two items that are responsible for a major portion of the divergence in cost of living: rent and travel. Commuting to work is quite expensive in cities like Mumbai and Delhi, mainly because of the longer commuting distance. However, if one were to exclude the rent and travel expenses, then Mumbai would be only 9 per cent costlier than Delhi as against 25 per cent now, considering the rent and travel expenses factor.

(Base New Delhi = 100)

Note:
1. An index no. of 125 means the cost of living for that particular category is 25% more than in Delhi.
2. The fruit & veg category is a sub-category within the overall food category.