Other Expenses

Apart from tuition, room and board, a student will also have many other expenses, so it is advised that they be prepared for these. Luckily, things in Kyrgyzstan are relatively inexpensive since they have a very low tax rate, low rents and almost no import duties. This allows most food items and daily necessities to be available cheaply. Apart from imported branded goods, most things things a student will need are widely available at a reasonable cost.

Some of the common expenses that one ought to budget for in India and in Kyrgyzstan, are —

• Students may prefer to buy a laptop in Kyrgyzstan, as many times the Chinese brands are much cheaper there and offer a local warrantee. Some laptops are cheaper in India, and if you already have a newer quality laptop, that's good enough in the beginning.
• We also recommend having a decent quality mobile phone, one that has decent battery life. If you have to purchase a new phone, bear in mind that Chinese brands are usually cheaper in Kyrgyzstan than in India.
• Textbooks, notebooks, stationary and other such items.
• Winter Clothes & Shoes — We cannot stress this enough. Winters in Kyrgyzstan can be extremely cold! All indoor spaces are centrally heated, including all classroms and hostels. Indoor, it's usually very comfortable and there's little need to wear anything more than a light sweater. But it's different if you have to go outside. We recommend that instead of purchasing winter items in India, it'll be much better to purchase quality winter jackets, shoes and other winter items in Bishkek. As these are always in demand there and are generally available, winter clothes available in Bishkek tend to be of higher quality and reasonably priced.
• Room & Board — For the first year, the cost of room and board is fixed, as stay and food mess are provisioned by the university. If after the first year, the student wishes to live off-camplus, in housing they arrange with a private landlord (perhaps as shared accomodation with other students), the cost of such accomodations are generally quite moderate. The costs may be hiigher that what one pays in small town in India, but it's a lot less than cost of such accomodation in Delhi or Bangalore or Pune.
• Dining Out - Eating out in Kyrgyzstan (and Bishkek) is generally inexpensive. Of course, it depends on where you go to eat. But generally food is cheap, costing the same as in metropolitan cities in India. There are now a number of options for Indian food, and these vary in cost and quality.
• Buying a car - this is not really needed as there's good access to public transportation and students anyway usually live close to the university. But in case a student wishes to purchase a car, Bishkek is one of the largest markets for used cars. Since there's no import duty on cars, all makes and models are generally available at a very reasonable price. Insurance and running costs also tend to be quite low.