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ChatGPT begins testing local pricing in India, plans start at Rs 1,999 per month
India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market outside the United States, with Altman suggesting it could soon surpass the US in ChatGPT usage.
India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market outside the United States, with Altman suggesting it could soon surpass the US in ChatGPT usage.
OpenAI has begun testing local pricing for ChatGPT in India, enabling users to pay in Indian rupees for the first time. According to a report by Moneycontrol, India joins select markets such as the UK and parts of Europe in this pilot programme, which aims to simplify payments and improve accessibility for the country’s rapidly expanding user base.
The rollout follows the recent launch of GPT-5, OpenAI’s most advanced model so far, which offers improved performance in 12 Indian languages. This localisation effort is intended to make the platform more relevant and practical for Indian users.
New Pricing Structure for Indian Users Under the pilot programme, the ChatGPT Plus plan is priced at Rs 1,999 per month (inclusive of GST), the higher-end Pro plan at Rs 19,900 per month, and the Team plan at Rs 2,099 per seat per month. Previously, Indian subscribers were billed in US dollars — $20 (around Rs 1,750) for Plus, $200 (around Rs 17,500) for Pro, and $30 (around Rs 2,600) per seat for the Team plan.
Potential Cheaper Tier on the Horizon Reports suggest OpenAI may soon introduce a budget-friendly tier named ChatGPT Go, potentially priced at Rs 399 per month. This entry-level plan would target casual users, students, and first-time subscribers seeking AI support without committing to premium subscriptions.
Local pricing was one of the major requests made to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during his visit to India in February 2025. Startup founders and developers had highlighted that dollar-based pricing created a barrier to wider adoption. OpenAI’s vice president of engineering, Srinivas Narayanan, previously told Moneycontrol that the company was working to make its tools more affordable for Indian developers, aligning with its global mission to improve accessibility.
India as a Key AI Growth Market India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market outside the United States, with Altman suggesting it could soon surpass the US in ChatGPT usage. The pilot pricing initiative reflects the platform’s rising influence in India’s AI adoption landscape.
OpenAI, however, faces strong competition. Perplexity AI has partnered with Bharti Airtel to provide its 360 million customers with a free one-year premium subscription, while Google is offering Indian college students a year’s free access to its AI tools.
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