Moving to India? Don't Buy a Car, Taxis Are Cheaper

According to this Economic Times of India article Want to save on expenses? Sell your car!, it costs 16.73 rupees per kilometer to operate a car in India, which works out to about 67 cents per mile (see graph above).

In contrast, it costs only 48.5 cents per mile to operate a vehicle in the U.S., according to the IRS. In a previous post, I reported that gasoline currently costs $5.16 per gallon in India, so it makes sense that driving in India is a lot more expensive than in the U.S., and also explains partly why the average person in India drives only about 6,000 miles (10,000 km) per year compared to the 12,000 mile average in the U.S.

The article also claims that it would actually be slightly cheaper to use taxis (60 cents per mile) than owning and operating a car.

(HT: Sanil Kori)