Bengaluru
South Asia · India · Asia
India's startup engine — pub culture, IT campuses, and surprisingly cool evenings.
Bengaluru is India's tech capital, a high-energy city of startups, craft beer, and a milder climate than the rest of the country thanks to its elevation. It's cosmopolitan and opportunity-rich, with great food, a strong English-speaking professional class, and a genuine nightlife scene. The big tradeoffs are infamous traffic, strained infrastructure, water shortages, and rents that have climbed sharply in tech corridors. It fits ambitious people plugged into tech who can tolerate big-city friction.
comfortable monthly budget
1-bed rent, good area
Best for
Not for
A young, educated, very international-minded professional crowd plus a real expat and returnee population, concentrated in Indiranagar and Koramangala. Easy to make friends through the startup and pub scene, which is among the most open and Western-friendly in India.
Where to land
The scorecard
Tax in India
Special regime: New optional regime with lower rates; RNOR status shields foreign income for new returnees
Top effective rate ~39% with surcharge; long-term capital gains taxed at 12.5%, GST standard 18%.
Representative estimate — not tax advice. · source
Make the move to Bengaluru
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