People in Bangalore spending like $-millionaries?

[smariner]

During my recent visit to Bangalore, I got the impression that people in Bangalore are thinking/acting/spending like $$-millionaries? This is especially true of property/home owners in Bangalore.

The gifts that my cousins wanted/got included iPods and iPhones.Who says iPhones don't work in India -- I've seen more people use an iPhone in BLR than in the US (including one salesperson in a jewelry store in BLR)

Almost all my relatives have bought a big-screen LCD TV (costing Rs. 70K or more) in the past year;

vacationing spots over a long-weekend include maldives, dubai, malaysia, singapore, andaman.

One friend spent over $900/night for a hotel stay during his week-long vacation;

other friends went on a cruise for a vacation;

people tell me that majority of the people staying at 5-star hotels in india are now Indians (unlike a few years ago, when the majority were foreigners).

I'm not sure if such incidents are true in other cities as well. But, people in BLR are spending like crazy........

[Going_nowhere]

Maybe you never knew you belong to a rich family. :)

[moneyIsNot_funny]

Its about time.

Do we ever say "People in LA are spending like millonaires"? "People in Chicago are spending like millionaires"? Same criteria should apply here. Its just assumed that there are enough people of different categories in these places. Same thing here. We have enough people with spending ability(or credit) in any given major city in India.

[anony_mouse]

Its about time.

Do we ever say "People in LA are spending like millonaires"? "People in Chicago are spending like millionaires"? Same criteria should apply here. [/quote]

I cannot agree more. India has enough diversity to support all kinds of people. I think Indian cities always had enough $-millionaires. The difference is earlier these people never had a place to spend this money and ended up going to Dubai, South East or Europe ("foren') for it. Now, many of these things are available locally (ipods, iphones, good 5 star hotels) so people are splurging here !!

[shapra]

Armchair Analysis:

Income levels have zoomed for a small percentage of people, lets say 1 million "IT" professionals, 1 million non-IT professionals, a few million entrepreneurs, a few million petty business folks and 1 million politicians/government officials. These constitute the big spending class in India. These are very visible spenders. In the past we only had corrupt government employees & politicians and their under-the-table loot.

The appetite for cars, bikes, phones, real estate, accessories & appliances has fuelled a trickle-down effect on the economy in big cities. A large pool of jobs with decent income levels has fuelled the new lower middle class. May the growth continue.

BTW, I do see my relatives (mostly the old economy middle class) spending more now than in the past.

[nand]

as compared to desis in india, desis who go abroad typically go with a remittance mentality deeply ingrained in them. So they have a higher propensity to hesitate on spending because they have a sense that they may only be abroad for a finite period of time and then come back home. A local, especially one who has a paid off home (ancestral or parental typically) will not feel this burden at all making him more amenable to free spending. add to that a sudden influx of material goods of higher quality and you have a spending boom.