When half your paycheque becomes the EMI: A Rs 50 lakh package can buy a flat, but can it buy peace of mind?

A Rs 1.5 crore home loan at an interest rate of about 8.5% over 20 years means an EMI between Rs 1.2 and Rs 1.3 lakh each month. Alok Tiwari, a wealth advisor, broke down the problem in plain numbers.

“EMI for 1.5Cr will be 1.2L pm. A 50L CTC makes 2.75L pm. Deduct rents, school fees, insurance, school bus, petrol, car cost, misc, groceries, utilities, vacation etc. Now from the leftover savings divide with 1.5cr,” Tiwari wrote on Threads.

The concern is clear. A Rs 50 lakh annual package translates to about Rs 2.75 lakh a month in hand. Almost half of that vanishes into the loan repayment, before accounting for the many other unavoidable costs of family life.

Bank approval vs reality

Technically, such a loan might pass bank scrutiny. The Reserve Bank of India allows lenders to extend loans up to half of a borrower’s income. But most advisors, and many banks themselves, caution against stretching beyond 40% of take-home pay for housing costs.

In this case, 40% of Rs 2.75 lakh works out to roughly Rs 1.1 lakh. The EMI required is closer to Rs 1.29 lakh, already breaching that threshold. That gap signals stress, not comfort.

Affordability across cities

The affordability question is not new. Knight Frank’s 2025 report on housing shows that, on average, Indian buyers commit 28% of their income to EMIs. But the picture changes dramatically across cities. In Mumbai, the ratio climbs to 48%, a level already seen as risky. In contrast, Ahmedabad and Kolkata remain more affordable, with EMIs consuming 18% to 23% of income.

When commitments inch close to half of what a household earns, it squeezes everything else. School fees, groceries, fuel, insurance, travel, and even small savings start to feel heavier.

Tiwari’s post touched a nerve because it describes a common dilemma. Salaries in many urban sectors have risen, and home loans have become accessible. Yet the real question is not whether a bank will say yes, but whether the borrower can live comfortably afterwards.

A Rs 50 lakh salary, under present benchmarks, does not comfortably support a Rs 1.5 crore home. The risk is not just of repaying the bank, but of sacrificing financial flexibility. Buyers may end up house-rich but cash-poor.

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