A wealth manager and finance consultant has revealed 14 reasons why he prefers living in Bhopal over Mumbai. Kalyan Kumar Biswal counted cheaper rent, better food and lower cost of living among the reasons he chose Bhopal over the bustling financial capital of India.
“My decision to leave Mumbai and move to Bhopal is going to make you question your own lifestyle in the metro,” he said in his X post yesterday.
“I spent most of my life in Mumbai, and after marriage, moving to Bhopal with my wife was a major decision,” he revealed, before counting the perks of living in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Cheaper rent and less traffic
According to Biswal, one can rent a 2BHK in Bhopal for just ₹17,000. This, of course, would be impossible in Mumbai — one of India’s most densely populated and expensive cities. He therefore counted cheaper rent as one of the biggest reasons he prefers life in Bhopal.
“A fully furnished 2BHK with 2 ACs, fridge, sofa, and bed in a top society costs just ₹17,000,” Biswal noted.
As India’s most densely populated city, Mumbai is home to over 12 million people and, consequently, a lot of traffic. The traffic situation becomes worse due to the long distances between places in the sprawling metropolis/
For Biswal, less traffic in Bhopal therefore became the second reason why he prefers the Tier 2 city. “The whole city is max 17 minutes away. Grab an Uber/Rapido and you'll get a cab in under 2 minutes. You can skip buying a car entirely — insurance, parking, and E20 petrol are all headaches you don't need,” he said.
Cleaner air, better food
The wealth manager said that cleaner air and better food in Bhopal are two other reasons for his preference. Bhopal is considered to be one of India’s greenest cities.
“Bhopal's parks have real, big trees, unlike Mumbai's smog-choked ones. AQI here stays well below 50, so yes, my lungs thank me every single day,” he said.
He also noted that food in Bhopal is not adulterated — noting how it would be nearly impossible to get pure butter for ₹60 per 100 grams in the Maharashtra capital.
“Food here has real flavor, something Mumbai can't offer no matter what you pay,” he added.
As points 6 and 7 behind his move to Bhopal, he cited friendlier people and cheaper domestic help. “My maid charges ₹4,500 for cooking and cleaning. In Mumbai, that's above ₹7,000, and she's always rushing with no real cooking skill,” Biswal said. “Mine here knows the difference between boiled, steamed, deep-fried, and shallow-fried. That's a blessing.”
(Also read: Why Mumbai looks hazy even when air quality is ‘moderate’)
Cheaper cost of living
Biswal then elaborated on how Bhopal offers cheaper cost of living.
He noted that he and his wife pay ₹27,000 per year for membership to Bhopal’s most premium gym. “The same quality in Mumbai would cost over ₹40,000 - and there, work and commute eat your whole day, so you're only hitting the gym on weekends, exhausted,” he pointed out.
Next, Biswal said that even watching a movie is cheaper in Bhopal compared to Mumbai, home to Bollywood. One can buy a movie ticket for under ₹300 in Bhopal, he said.
He also claimed that the Madhya Pradesh city offers better work-life balance, with work wrapping up by 5:30 pm in most offices.
“Offices here wrap up by 5:30 PM. Nobody's working till 8 or reaching home at 10 PM. Everyone's home by 6, max 6:30. Digest that, Mumbaikars. Bosses aren't unnecessarily rude. The main office in Delhi doesn't care how the Bhopal office performs; all they care about is numbers from metro cities,” said Biswal.
No language pressure
According to Biswal, there is no language pressure in Bhopal because the most widely spoken language is Hindi. “Nobody forces you to speak the local language since it's Hindi anyway - cabbies and auto drivers are simply better behaved,” he said.
While on the topic of cabbies, he mentioned that Rapido and Uber bikes are widely available in Bhopal, marking another point in the city’s favour. Bike taxis are banned in Mumbai.
As his final point, he claimed better connectivity to other parts of India. Biswal noted that Bhopal is “right in the middle”, making it a very convenient waypoint. Major cities like Delhi and Mumbai are just a train ride away.