What a painter should cost in India in 2026: per sq ft rates for putty, emulsion, exterior and enamel

A 2 BHK repaint should not cost ₹80,000 in labour, and a bathroom ceiling with black patches is not a reason to repaint the whole flat. Here is what each painting job involves, what the labour should cost per square foot in a typical Indian city, and how to measure so that the quote cannot be inflated.

The short answer

Interior painting labour runs from ₹8 per sq ft for distemper to ₹24 per sq ft for full putty, primer and two coats of emulsion. A plain repaint over sound old paint is ₹16 per sq ft. Exterior emulsion is ₹14 per sq ft, and there is no visit charge: painters measure and quote free.

Metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru run about 30 percent higher. A rush job adds roughly 20 percent. These are the figures the TheHire cost estimator uses, so what you read here is what it will quote.

How painters actually charge

A painting bill has three parts, and arguments happen because the first one was never pinned down.

1. The area. Painters quote per square foot of wall and ceiling, not floor. For a flat, wall area is about three to three and a half times the carpet area: an 800 sq ft 2 BHK has roughly 2,500 to 2,800 sq ft of paintable surface. Doors, windows and wardrobes are deducted by an honest painter and ignored by a lazy one. Ask for the measurement in writing before the rate.
2. Labour, per sq ft by finish. The rate depends on what is done to the wall before the paint goes on, not on the paint brand. Putty and primer are the expensive part because they are the slow part. A fresh coat over sound paint is ₹10; full putty is more than double at ₹24 because it is three extra passes with sanding between each.
3. Material. Paint, putty, primer, sandpaper, masking tape. Either you buy, or the painter buys and shows the bill. Rough shop prices in 2026: a 20 litre bucket of acrylic distemper ₹1,200 to ₹2,000, a 20 litre bucket of standard interior emulsion ₹3,500 to ₹6,000, premium emulsion ₹7,000 to ₹12,000, a 20 kg bag of wall putty ₹700 to ₹1,000, a 20 litre bucket of primer ₹2,000 to ₹3,500. A 2 BHK repaint uses about 40 litres of emulsion and 10 to 20 kg of putty for touch-ups.

The eight jobs every home eventually calls for

1. A repaint of the whole flat, ₹16 per sq ft

The most common call. The old paint is sound, there are a few nail holes and hairline cracks, and the colour is tired. The painter scrapes loose spots, fills holes with putty, sands, spot-primes the patches and rolls two coats. A 2 BHK is roughly ₹40,000 to ₹45,000 in labour at this rate, plus paint. If the painter wants to skip putty touch-up entirely, you are paying the fresh-coat rate of ₹10, not this one.

2. Full putty, primer and two coats, ₹24 per sq ft

For a new flat with bare plaster, for walls where the old paint is flaking in sheets, or when you are moving from distemper to emulsion. Two coats of putty, sanded flat, a coat of primer, then two coats of emulsion. This is the finish that lasts seven to ten years. It is the one to insist on for a new house, because paint over unprepared plaster lasts two or three monsoons.

3. Distemper, ₹8 per sq ft

Acrylic distemper is the budget finish for rentals, store rooms and ceilings nobody looks at. It is washable only in the loosest sense and it chalks within a few years. It is not wrong for a landlord repainting between tenants; it is wrong for a bedroom you plan to live in for a decade.

4. One room, ₹3,500 per room

Walls and ceiling of a standard 10 by 12 room, repaint grade. Good for a child's room that has outgrown its colour or a bedroom before a wedding. An accent wall in a colour or a stencil is ₹1,500 per wall on top of a plain repaint.

5. Exterior painting, ₹14 to ₹22 per sq ft

Exterior emulsion is priced higher than interior because of the scaffolding, the height and the surface prep; a waterproof exterior coat is ₹22 because it goes on thicker in two or three passes and needs the cracks filled first. For an independent house, scaffolding or bamboo staging is usually included in the rate; ask. For a flat in a society, exterior work is the society's job and is tendered as a whole.

6. Doors, grills and gates, ₹500 to ₹2,500

Enamel on wood and metal is priced per piece, not per sq ft. A door both sides is ₹800, a window grill ₹500, a main gate ₹2,500, a railing ₹180 per metre. The work is in the prep: sanding old enamel, a coat of red-oxide or zinc-chromate primer on metal, then two coats of enamel with a day between them. A gate painted without primer rusts through the new paint within a year.

7. Damp walls and seepage, ₹35 per sq ft

The patch behind the bathroom wall, the bubbling paint below a window, the white powder on a ground-floor wall. The treatment is scraping back to plaster, a waterproofing or damp-proof coat, then putty and paint. It only holds if the source of the water is fixed first, which is usually a mason's job: a leaking bathroom above, a cracked terrace, a blocked drain pipe. Paint over a wet wall peels again in one monsoon.

8. Texture, wallpaper and wood finishes, ₹22 to ₹55 per sq ft

Texture and stencil finishes are ₹55 per sq ft because they are slow and need a skilled hand. Wallpaper is ₹22 per sq ft to hang, with the paper itself at ₹40 to ₹150 per sq ft on top. A lime-wash or wood-look finish is ₹40. All three need a flat, dry, primed wall underneath; a texture over a damp wall is an expensive way to hide a problem for six months.

Daily rate versus per sq ft

If you supply everything and manage the work yourself, a painter is ₹850 per day and a helper ₹600. A two-person team covers roughly 300 to 400 sq ft of repaint per day including prep. Daily rate is right for odd jobs: a few doors, a grill, a balcony wall. For a whole flat it is almost always dearer than a per sq ft quote, because nobody is in a hurry on a daily rate.

One rule that saves money: do the flat in one go. Painters discount from the fourth room, the scaffolding is set up once, and the leftover paint from one room covers the next. Two rooms this year and two next year costs more and never matches.

Five signs of a good painter

• They measure the walls with a tape and show you the figure before the rate, with doors and windows deducted.
• They name the putty, primer and paint by brand and grade, and bring sealed tins.
• They sand between coats; you can hear it, and you can see the dust sheets.
• They mask the switchboards, the floor and the edges rather than wiping drips later.
• They tell you a wet wall needs a mason before paint, even though it delays their own job.

Every painter on TheHire is ID and phone verified, and reviews after each job are public, which takes care of the part you cannot check at the door.

What to keep ready before they arrive

• The wall area, or at least the carpet area, so the quote on the phone is not a guess.
• Shade cards chosen and written down by code, not "that light blue".
• Furniture pulled to the centre and covered, or agree that the team will do it.
• A decision on who buys paint, and the budget per bucket if it is them.
• Photos of damp patches or flaking, so the painter arrives with the right prep in mind.

When the price is not the price

Walls that are worse than they look. Old distemper under emulsion, oil-bound paint that will not take putty, or plaster that comes away with the scraper. The job moves from repaint to full putty, and the rate from ₹16 to ₹24. A good painter will tell you after the first wall, not on the last day.

Dark to light. Going from a deep colour to white takes three coats, not two. Agree the third coat up front rather than finding it on the bill.

Rain. Exterior work stops in rain and the paint must not go on a wet wall. If the quote is for exterior work in July, build in the delay rather than paying a rush rate to beat the weather.