- Raising a child in an Indian metro may cost nearly Rs 6.75 crore over 21 years
- Education inflation of 10-12% annually drives costs higher than typical investment returns
- Estimated expenses include schooling, coaching, healthcare, gadgets, and lifestyle costs
Financial advisor and content creator Udayan Adhye has gone viral after claiming that raising a child in a metro city in India could cost nearly Rs 6.75 crore over 21 years. In an Instagram video, Adhye argued that most parents underestimate the long-term financial burden of education, healthcare, lifestyle, and extracurricular expenses. Breaking down his calculations, Adhye said the biggest factor driving the estimate is education inflation, which he pegged at 10-12% annually, far higher than the 5-6% returns offered by many child-focused investment products. According to him, costs at that rate effectively double every six years.
He explained that a four-year college degree costing around Rs 20 lakh today could rise to Rs 1.6–2 crore by the time a newborn turns 18. Beyond higher education, Adhye included expenses such as private schooling, coaching classes, sports training, music lessons, gadgets, vacations, childcare, healthcare, and other lifestyle costs spread across two decades.
The estimate also factors in urban childcare expenses, including nanny services, premium healthcare, and high-end lifestyle spending common among affluent metro families.
Adhye clarified that the final amount can vary significantly depending on a family's lifestyle choices, city, and educational goals. He also noted that postgraduate education is usually treated as a separate expense and is often funded through education loans or by the child later in life.
"Raising a child in an Indian metro is no longer just an emotional decision. It is a serious financial goal. School, college, coaching, lifestyle, healthcare, gadgets, vacations; the numbers quietly compound for 21 years. And no, a basic child plan won't cut it," the video was captioned.
Watch the video here:
The viral claim has triggered intense debate online. Some users accused the video of fear-mongering and portraying parenthood as a financial liability, arguing that the Rs 6.75 crore figure reflects an ultra-premium urban lifestyle rather than the reality for most Indian households.
Others, however, said the projection was not entirely unrealistic, pointing to soaring private school and college fees in cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru, where annual education costs have climbed sharply in recent years.
