A Bengaluru-based entrepreneur has sparked a debate by claiming that “ ₹2.5 lakh per month is the new 1 lakh”. Niket Raj Dwivedi was trying to make a point about inflation and the rising cost of living in his social media post, but managed to annoy a few people with his claim.
Niket Raj Dwivedi is the Bengaluru-based founder of Medial app.
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The founder of the professional social media network Medial took to X two days ago to declare: “2.5 Lac per month is the new 1 Lac.” In a follow-up tweet, he said that this statement is “specially true in Bangalore/Mumbai”.
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Post sparks debate
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The post sparked a heated debate about salaries in India. Some accused Dwivedi of exaggeration and said that ₹1 lakh is a respectable amount to survive on every month.
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The post sparked a heated debate about salaries in India. Some accused Dwivedi of exaggeration and said that ₹1 lakh is a respectable amount to survive on every month.
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Others, however, agreed with him and noted how the cost of living has skyrocketed.
“Genuinely impressive how detached from reality some people are,” wrote X user Vaibhav Shivrain.
“Inflation, lifestyle creep, and a collapsing job market conspired together. ₹1L felt rich in 2015, ₹2.5L feels survival in 2026,” another countered.
One X account highlighted how a 3BHK in Bengaluru can command a rent of ₹1 lakh. “A 3BHK in Belladur, HSR, Koramangala etc almost costs you 80k-1L in rent only... so now one can calculate... you need 2.5L just to survive…” the account posted.
“Yes, inflation keeps raising the bar for everyone,” a user agreed.
An X user named Aditya Gupta noted how cities like Delhi and Mumbai have a very high cost of living. “I know this is outrageous. Out of touch with reality for 90% Indians. But frankly - cost of living for Metro - Delhi/Mumbai etc is decently high these days,” he wrote. “I will sound like a broken record but Tokyo is cheaper than Delhi in terms of dining out.”
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.
