Moving to Chennai :)

Hi,
Welcome to Chennai.
I am from Chennai but presently working in Saudi Arabia.
Let me give you some tips for living in Chennai.
1) You can look for decent accomodation in places like Adyar, Besant Nagar, MRC Nagar, etc... which are nearer to Tharamani. You can get studio or 1 bedroom, or 2 bedroom apartment. Rents are like INR 15,000 per month (approx 280 to 300 USD per month) for a 1000 square feet area living space. You can calculate based on this guideline for any other area. But, it is best to ask your company for furnished accomodation.
2) I will advice you to move to your company first and find a foreign employee there and talk to them for shared accomodation
3) If your company does not give transport for commuting, it is better to tie up with any of your co-worker to pick u up and drop u back (may be on chargeable basis, if they need so). But, dont hire a taxi or auto yourself... as they will cheat u, bcos u are a foreigner.
4) For medical insurance, it is better to ask ur company. If not there are many banks and insurance companies offer private insurance, like ICICI, Reliance health care, TATA AIG, etc. You can see the internet to find the best suitable insurance for u.
5) Income tax depends on the taxable portion of ur salary. Only ur company is the best guide to help u in this regard.
6) Apart from this, for entertainment, u have beaches, movie theaters (some play English movies), drama / plays, etc. U can visit Pondicherry (120 KM from Chennai), where u can meet French people settled here.
Hope this is be useful to u.

US Nationals would have to oblige by their country's tax laws, wherever they work.  You can find it there itself.  There would also be procedures to adopt to avoid double taxation in India.