Woman surprised over ‘insane’ prices in Mumbai after visiting Singapore, netizens blame inflation and GST

A woman called out rising prices in Mumbai after her visit to Singapore, one of the most expensive cities in the world. She shared that the costs of eating out in cafes and restaurants and travelling are very high. She compared the costs of such experiences to Singapore, which is a little more than Mumbai.

The woman who goes by the handle name ‘Subiii’ shared her experience in a post on X.

“Was in Singapore for a week and I shook how Mumbai is SO expensive when it comes to nice cafes/restaurants and going out, coffee, ubers, experiences etc. like Singapore was just as/very slightly more expensive as most restaurants in Bandra and that’s absolutely insane,” she wrote. According to her, one will have to a bit more pay for comfort and luxury in India.

“Drinks in nice restaurants in Mumbai are 800-1200 with taxes, boojee charges 600 for a sandwich and that’s how much their equivalents in sg cost too- the baseline you need to pay for some comfort and luxury in India is so high with restaurants, hotel stays, drinks, cafes etc,” she adds.

The reason for such high prices, according to Subiii, is rising inequality.

“Yep totally agreed, it’s because of the inequality that even little things like grabbing a coffee from a cafe is a “luxury” that costs 450 rupees while most of us don’t make as much as our developed country counterparts to make these expenses make sense,” she said.

Singapore is considered one of the most expensive cities in the world. According to Mercer’s 2024 cost-of-living data, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zurich are currently the costliest cities for international workers.

Several social media users have reacted to Subiii’s post. Some users blamed inflation and GST for rising costs.

“Indian cities are insanely overpriced for everything. I feel like it’s a combo of crazy high rents in India inflating everything & classism – people want to be gated away from most of society,” commented one user.

Another user said, “I am not a resident of India. I come to India once a year. Buying tee shirt in India Inr 3200 but a designer/ top brand tee shirt in London costs £35. Inflation in India has hit the roof.”

“Imagine how much the owner of cafe and govt would earn if they’d brought down GST from 18-20% to 2%. Almost everyone could grab a cafe latte,” wrote one user.

One of the users shared their experience of visiting Singapore, saying, “Totally. I remember when I went to Singapore for the first time in 2008, everything was really expensive compared to Mumbai. I went again in 2024, and it’s about the same now.”