OpenAI brings ChatGPT local pricing to India with subscription plans in rupees

OpenAI is finally speaking the language of Indian wallets. The company has begun a pilot programme offering local pricing in Indian rupees for ChatGPT subscriptions. This makes India one of the few countries outside Europe and the UK to get the local pricing option.

ChatGPT announces local pricing in Indian rupees

For everyday users, the ChatGPT Plus plan now comes in at Rs 1,999 a month (GST included), while power users can opt for the Rs 19,900-a-month Pro tier. Businesses using the Team plan will pay Rs 2,099 per seat per month.

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Until now, all payments were billed in US dollars. The tiers were $20 for Plus, $200 for Pro, and $30 per Team seat. These subscription prices with currency conversion and bank fees were effectively costlier than the new local pricing.

The move follows GPT-5’s launch, which brings improved performance in 12 Indian languages, a clear nod to one of OpenAI’s fastest-growing markets. There’s also talk of a Rs 399-a-month ChatGPT Go plan aimed at students and casual users, though it hasn’t been confirmed.

Why India, why now

The decision isn’t random. India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market outside the US, and CEO Sam Altman has hinted it could overtake the US in usage. Local pricing was high on the wishlist when Altman visited India earlier this year, with startup founders pointing out that dollar-denominated fees were a hurdle to wider adoption.

Srinivas Narayanan, OpenAI’s VP of engineering, recently told MoneyControl that India’s developer community is “incredibly creative” and ready to embrace new tech, especially with government support through initiatives like the National AI Mission.

Of course, the AI gold rush here isn’t OpenAI’s alone. Google is offering Indian college students a year’s free access to its Gemini AI tools, while Perplexity is dangling a free one-year premium subscription (worth Rs 17,000) to Airtel’s 360 million customers.

The battle for your prompt-writing loyalty has just gone fully local. Which AI bot is your pick? Let us know, and stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma for the latest tech updates.