Before you start

Employer group medical cover, or a private policy
Vaccinations appropriate to India
Air purifiers for the rooms you sleep and work in
A hospital and GP identified before you need them

Step-by-step

1
Buy proper air purifiers before your first winter
HEPA units rated for the actual room size, for at least the bedroom and workspace, plus spare filters — they clog far faster here than the manufacturer's schedule assumes. Keep windows closed through the severe season. This is the highest-return health purchase you will make.
OnlineWho: YouBefore October
2
Confirm what your employer's group cover includes
Check room-rent limits, per-condition sub-limits, maternity cover and dependant inclusion. Consider a top-up policy if the sum insured is low relative to a private hospital admission.
Via employerWho: YouFirst month
3
Get vaccinated before you arrive
Typhoid and hepatitis A are the baseline; others depend on circumstances. Some courses need weeks, so start at home.
In personWho: You
4
Identify your hospital and check the cashless network
Medanta in Sector 38, Fortis on Golf Course Road and Artemis are all major private hospitals within the city. Know which is nearest, which has a cashless arrangement with your insurer, and how long it takes in traffic.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
5
Take mosquito precautions after the monsoon
Dengue spikes across the NCR from August to October. Standing water in a construction-heavy city breeds mosquitoes, and the aedes mosquito bites during the day. Repellent, screens and clearing standing water on balconies are effective.
In personWho: You
6
Check the AQI daily from October
Treat it as a weather forecast. On severe days move exercise indoors, keep children in, and run purifiers continuously. Residents structure their winters around this.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Insurance policy documents and cashless card
Vaccination records
Prescriptions, with generic names rather than brand names
Passport, required at hospital admission

Things most newcomers don’t know

Gurgaon's hospitals were built partly for medical tourists, and it shows.

Medanta, Fortis and Artemis compete internationally for patients travelling to India for treatment, which means facilities, English-language administration and international patient services well above what a city this size would otherwise support. For a foreign resident this is a genuine advantage over most Indian cities.

Source: community-reported

The winter air is identical to Delhi's, whatever the marketing says.

Gurgaon sits in the same airshed and experiences the same 'very poor' to 'severe' AQI from late October to January. Condominium brochures emphasise green cover and low-rise density; neither materially changes what you breathe. Plan for it exactly as you would in Delhi.

Source: Central Pollution Control Board

Construction dust makes local air worse than the citywide reading.

Gurgaon is a permanent building site, and construction dust is a major particulate source. Living beside an active site raises your personal exposure well above the area AQI figure. Look at what is being built within a few hundred metres before signing a lease.

Source: Commission for Air Quality Management

Room-rent sub-limits break Indian health policies more than anything else.

Many group policies cap the daily room rent payable, and exceeding it causes the insurer to proportionately reduce every other charge on the bill. A low limit can leave you paying a large share of a claim you thought was covered.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving in October without air purifiers already installed.
Renting beside an active construction site and raising your particulate exposure.
Not reading the room-rent sub-limit in an employer group policy.
Assuming a hospital is in your insurer's cashless network without checking.
Exercising outdoors in December because the temperature is pleasant.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.