Mumbai

Shipping Companies

When you move to Mumbai, you will need help from two moving companies. The first one will be in your home country and will help you pack up and ship your belongings to India. Once your shipment is in Mumbai, an Indian company will take over. There are several moving companies to choose from and most offer other helpful services in addition to moving services, such as apartment and school hunting, orientations, and help with visas and immigration.

Writer Corporation is a well-known Mumbai moving and relocation company connected to a network of over 750 moving companies worldwide. They also offer a range of orientation services including help with registration with authorities, cross cultural training, and assistance with utility hook ups.

Crown Relocations is an international company offering moving, storage, and relocation services.

Brannigan Relocations is based in Mumbai and offers a wide range of moving and relocation services.

Schenker India is a global company specializing in transport, logistics, and relocation.

Housing Insurance

Insuring your home is not mandatory, but it is prudent to buy a good policy. Before you buy insurance, make sure you understand exactly what is covered and under which circumstances. You will also need to take an inventory of all items in your home.

With ICICI Lombard: If the estimated value of the contents in your rented home is Rs 1,000,000, your premium would be Rs 16,407 for 5 years coverage, Rs 10,010 for 3 years coverage, and Rs 3,419 for one year of coverage.

ICICI Lombard

Utilities

You can ask your landlord if he or she is willing to include utilities in your rent, but usually the tenant pays for utilities.

Gas

Gas cylinders are commonly used for cooking as few buildings have gas mains.

If your apartment has been occupied before and is already associated with a gas company, find out what the registration number the previous occupant had. With this number, you’ll be able to call the gas company to ask for new cylinders to be delivered. If you need to set up a new account, then call the company and you can arrange a new account over the phone. Someone will come to your home with the containers and a paper to sign. You’ll also receive your registration number.

HP Gas
Phone: 2612 5948

Bharat Gas
Phone: 2389 2542

Payment: Gas cylinders are delivered to your door when you call to order. You can pay the delivery man in rupees.

Average Cost: $7.00 per gas container. One container will last about three months for light usage or one month for normal use.

Electricity

BEST
http://www.bestundertaking.com

Reliance Energy
http://relianceinfra.net/

Payment: Checks, cash, or online payment are all possible for payment of electricity bills. Be sure to pay on time to avoid disconnection.

Average Cost: Electricity costs Rs. 0.11 per unit, about the same as in the United States. Meters are used to determine the usage and bills, but usage is sometimes estimated and then adjusted. Air conditioners consume a lot of electricity, so your summer bills are bound to be much higher than your winter bills. Estimated cost for a 3 bedroom apartment with medium air conditioner usage (two air conditioners running 8 hours a night and for brief periods during the day) is $129.00 USD or Rs. 6,000 per month.

In almost all cases, your apartment will already be set up with electricity. You’ll just need to pay the bills when they arrive monthly to your door either via post or through the security guard of your building.

Water

Water bills are usually not paid by the tenant. There might be some small fees through your building society, but they would be negligible. Check with your landlord.

Postal Services

Post is delivered one or two times a day except for holidays and Sundays. To receive mail, you can have your mail temporarily forwarded from your home country to Mumbai for a fee. Once you start filling out forms and information with your Mumbai address, the mail will come to you delivered by the security guard or placed in a mail box in your building.

The main post office in Mumbai is in Fort and is called the General Post Office. It is open Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm.

For more details visit http://www.indiapost.gov.in

Fed Ex has several locations in Mumbai for the shipment of packages.