DELHI MOST COSTLY INDIAN CITY FOR EXPATRIATES

BY P.VIJIAN

NEW DELHI, July 9 (Bernama) -- Delhi has been listed as the most expensive
city in India for expatriates working in the country, says an international
survey.

The global human resource consultancy, Mercer's Worldwide Cost of Living
Survey 2009 revealed that the Indian capital was the priciest city for
foreigners to live followed by Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.

Though Indian cities declined in the international rankings this year, in
terms of cost of living due to the weakening of the Indian rupee against major
currencies, living costs remained high.

"This is unprecedented, Delhi took over Mumbai as the most expensive city
(in India). Namely this is due to expensive accommodation, product and services
and food prices," Rupam Mishra, India's head of global mobility, a unit of
Mercer's information product solutions, told Bernama Thursday.

Delhi slipped to 65th place from 55th slot in last year's global ranking, as
the most expensive city, while Mumbai, India's financial hub, considered one of
the most pricey cities in the country slipped to 66th from 48th position.

Meanwhile, Bangalore's status dropped to 133rd spot from 118th and Chennai
fell to 135th slot from 117th compared to last year's study.

Mercer named Tokyo as the world's most expensive city, while Osaka second
and Moscow emerged third in this year's ranking.

Singapore was the 10th expensive city for expatriates to live in.

The survey was conducted across 143 cities in six continents.
-- BERNAMA