Instagram finance creator Udayan Adhye has set off a fresh round of debate online after claiming that raising a child in a metro city in India could cost as much as Rs 6.75 crore, a figure that has quickly travelled far beyond his original audience and stirred strong reactions across social media. In a video posted on Instagram, Adhye argued that the financial demands of parenting have grown sharply in urban India, driven by the steady rise in education costs, lifestyle expenses and inflation over time. His post has since been widely shared, with many viewers calling the estimate alarming, while others said it reflects the harsh arithmetic of modern middle-class parenting. Scroll down to read more...
According to the calculation presented in the clip, the long-term cost of raising a child in a metro is not limited to tuition fees alone. Adhye said parents often underestimate the true burden because they rely on traditional child investment plans that may not grow quickly enough to keep pace with rising expenses, especially when education inflation runs much hotter than general inflation.
He framed the estimate bluntly in the video: raising a child in an Indian metro, he said, could require Rs 6.75 crore, and he invited viewers to look at the “exact math” behind the claim. The central argument, he said, is that school fees in many urban centres are rising at around 10 to 12 per cent every year, a pace that can cause costs to double roughly every six years.
He also pointed out that what may appear to be an affordable college budget in today’s terms might transform into an excessively high expense by the time a child reaches adulthood. In his detailed analysis, a college education that presently costs approximately Rs 20 lakh could escalate to between Rs 1.6 crore and Rs 2 crore by the time a newborn hits the age of 18. The underlying message he intended to convey was not to forecast a single, definitive figure relevant to each and every family, but rather to illustrate how dramatically the future costs of education could compound over time.
Beyond schooling and college, Adhye said the real cost of parenting includes several other recurring expenses that accumulate quietly over the years. Many of these do not appear dramatic in isolation, but together they steadily reshape a family’s financial priorities. Small monthly payments, annual fees, impulse purchases and social expectations slowly become part of the normal rhythm of raising a child in modern urban life. He counted sports, music lessons, coaching classes, vacations, gadgets, healthcare, lifestyle spending and even nanny services during the early years of a child’s life. Taken together, he argued, those costs turn parenting into a long-term financial commitment rather than a purely emotional one.
In the caption accompanying the post, Adhye wrote that raising a child in an Indian metro is “no longer just an emotional decision” but a serious financial goal. He added that school, college, coaching, lifestyle, healthcare, gadgets and vacations all add up over 21 years, and said that a basic child plan would not be enough to cover that burden.
He also clarified that his estimate would vary from family to family depending on lifestyle choices, schooling preferences and educational goals. Postgraduate education, he noted, is often treated separately and may be funded later through an education loan or by the child themselves.
The video quickly spread online and drew mixed reactions. Many users appeared stunned by the scale of the number and flooded the comments section asking for the “child calculator” he mentioned in the clip. Adhye said interested viewers could comment or send him a direct message to receive a Google document containing the detailed calculations.
At the same time, the post opened up a broader conversation about parenting costs in India’s cities, where private schooling, coaching culture and rising household expenses have become an increasing concern for many families. Some social media users saw the video as a useful wake-up call about planning for the future. Others accused such content of feeding anxiety around parenthood and making family life appear financially out of reach.
The reactions also reflected a growing divide in how urban Indians think about money, lifestyle, and parenting expectations. For some families, expensive schooling, extracurricular activities, international travel, and premium healthcare are now treated almost as necessities rather than luxuries. Others argued that children can still be raised with stability and love without turning parenting into a multi-crore financial project tied to elite urban aspirations.
One social media user humorously remarked that they would prefer to invest in a Lamborghini for themselves rather than focus on the escalating costs of raising children. Meanwhile, another individual expressed concern that these social media reels are turning into a source of pressure rather than serving as helpful guidance, instilling a sense of fear about the prospect of becoming parents. At this moment, Adhye's viral and thought-provoking calculation has achieved something that many finance-related posts seldom accomplish: it has compelled a diverse audience to engage in thoughtful consideration and debate over the actual expenses associated with raising a child in the urban centers of India.
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