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Loading PaisaToolsPaisaTools Index · 2026 edition
What the milestones of a middle-class Indian life cost — from Kota coaching to a flat's down payment to a retirement corpus — in one place, each with the full breakdown behind it.
Every figure is a range because families differ: city, college, clinic and lifestyle move the number. Read the scope line under each item — it says exactly what the range covers — and open the breakdown before you plan around it.
₹6–10 lakh total
Two years, tuition + hostel + running costs
₹3–10 lakh total
Out-of-pocket: fees, coaching, living if relocating
₹25–30 lakh total
Two years at a tuition-free public university, before part-time pay
₹65 lakh+ total
Two years at mid-range figures, with flights and setup
₹45 lakh – ₹1.2 crore total
Full course
₹75–95 lakh total
Licence + type rating, before the first airline salary
₹1.5–3.5 lakh per cycle
One cycle at a private clinic, all-in
₹50,000 – ₹1.5 lakh one-time
Private hospital
₹40 lakh – ₹1.5 crore+ total
Birth to graduation, government schooling to private school + overseas degree
₹83,000 – ₹1.7 lakh a month
Monthly spending before EMIs and saving
₹50,000 – ₹1 lakh a month
Monthly spending before EMIs and saving
₹18,000–35,000 a month
Untrained, with food and a place to sleep provided
₹55,000–90,000 a year
Food, preventive care, a vet visit, grooming — excluding emergencies
₹16.8–19.2 lakh one-time
Cash on day one: down payment, stamp duty, registration, brokerage or GST
₹11.5–12 lakh one-time
On-road price, before fuel
₹1.35–1.45 lakh one-time
On-road price, before fuel
₹1.5–1.8 crore total
Corpus needed, in today's money
Each range comes from a PaisaTools cost guide, researched from published fee schedules, regulator rules and current market quotes, and written to the standards on our editorial standardspage. The index copies the guide's own figure and its scope; it does not average or re-estimate anything.
Ranges are typical, not quotes. They describe what most families will see in 2026, and a specific city, institution or clinic can sit outside them. This is information, not financial advice.
This is the first edition. From the next one, the index will show how much each milestone has moved in a year — measured, never back-filled.
Published 2026-09-15.
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 — journalists, bloggers and educators are welcome to quote any figure with a link. Suggested credit:
Source: PaisaTools Cost Index 2026, paisatools.co.in/cost-index
Planning one of these? Check it against your own income and savings with Can I Afford It?