India eSIM: The Complete 2026 Guide for Travelers

An India eSIM is a prepaid, data-only travel plan that you install before you fly, so your phone is online on the Airtel network as soon as you land in Delhi, Mumbai or anywhere else in India. You get mobile data for maps, WhatsApp, rides and bookings, but no Indian phone number. This guide covers which phones work, what coverage to expect from the Golden Triangle to Kerala, how the Singapore IP and the missing local number affect you, and how much data to buy.

What you get with an India eSIM

An eSIM is a digital SIM profile that your phone downloads from a QR code — nothing to collect at the airport and no phone shop to find. Our India plans are data-only: mobile internet, with no Indian number and no calls or SMS on the eSIM. Your home SIM stays in the phone, so you keep receiving texts such as bank codes, and you call through WhatsApp, FaceTime or similar apps. In India that covers most needs, because hotels, drivers and guides usually communicate on WhatsApp anyway.

There are two kinds of plan:

• Fixed-data plans — 100 MB, 500 MB or 1 GB for 7 days, 3 GB for 15 or 30 days, and 5, 10, 20 or 50 GB for 30 days. Plans marked Top-up can be refilled on the My eSIM page.
• 24-hour passes — a daily high-speed allowance, from 500 MB to 10 GB per day. Once the allowance is used you stay online at a reduced speed, shown on each plan, until the pass ends.

Combining India with Nepal, Sri Lanka or Bhutan? The multi-country South Asia plan covers India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and our Asia-wide and global plans include India too. Every option is on the India eSIM plans list.

Check your phone first

Your phone must support eSIM and be carrier-unlocked. Compatible models include iPhone XS, XR and newer (and the iPhone SE from the 2nd generation), Google Pixel 3 and newer, Samsung Galaxy S20 and newer, and many other recent Android phones. The quickest test is to dial *#06#: if an EID number appears, the phone has an eSIM. If your phone came from a carrier on contract, ask them to confirm it is unlocked before you buy.

Airtel coverage across India

All India plans connect to Airtel, one of India’s two largest mobile networks. Plans list 3G, 4G and 5G speeds; most of the time you will be on 4G, with 5G where it is available and your phone supports it. What to expect:

• Well covered: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and other cities, the main highways and rail routes, and the busy tourist towns of the Golden Triangle (Delhi–Agra–Jaipur), Goa, Kerala and Rajasthan.
• Patchy: long train journeys through farmland and hills, ghat roads and hill stations such as Munnar, Kerala’s backwaters away from towns, and the Konkan Railway between Mumbai and Goa, which runs through dozens of tunnels. Huge crowds — festivals, or the ghats of Varanasi at the evening aarti — can also slow data while thousands of phones share the same towers.
• Weak or none: remote Himalayan valleys and high passes, the open desert around Jaisalmer’s dune camps, deep inside national parks and some rural villages. Download offline maps before you head out.

Kashmir and Ladakh are a special case. Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh apply stricter security rules to mobile connections: prepaid SIMs from other Indian states do not work there, and travel eSIMs may not connect either. If either region is on your route, contact us before you buy and plan on hotel Wi-Fi for that part of the trip.

Indian authorities also occasionally suspend mobile internet in a particular district or state during unrest. While a suspension lasts, mobile data stops for everyone in that area, whichever SIM or eSIM they use; your hotel will know when it is expected to return.

The Singapore IP and the missing Indian number

India plans route your data through Singapore, so apps and websites see a Singapore IP address. Most things work exactly as they do at home — WhatsApp, Google Maps, Gmail, Instagram, Uber and booking sites. Maps and “near me” searches use your phone’s GPS, so directions are based on where you really are. A few Indian services that check location, such as some banking, government, streaming or ticketing sites, may treat you as being abroad; if one refuses to load, try it on hotel Wi-Fi.

The bigger difference is the phone number. Many Indian apps and services sign you in with a one-time code sent by SMS to an Indian (+91) mobile number — common with food delivery, UPI payment apps, some ticketing apps and many public Wi-Fi logins. A data-only eSIM cannot receive those codes. Practical ways around it:

• Pay with cards and cash, and keep small notes for auto-rickshaws, tips and street food.
• Use services that accept your home number: Uber does, and IRCTC, the official Indian Railways booking site, lets foreign visitors register with an international mobile number.
• Ask the hotel front desk to order food delivery or book local services for you.
• Arrange drivers, day tours and train tickets through your hotel or a tour operator; they usually confirm everything on WhatsApp.

If you really need a local number, for example for a long stay, read our comparison of a tourist SIM and a travel eSIM in India.

How much data to buy

Most travelers in India use about 1 GB a day: navigation, rides, WhatsApp with drivers and hotels, translation and some social media. If you mostly use hotel Wi-Fi, 300–500 MB a day is often enough; if you video call home daily, post lots of video or work on the road, plan on 2 GB a day or more, or choose a 24-hour pass. For a typical traveler, 10 GB covers about a week and 20 GB about two weeks. Our India data guide breaks this down by activity and trip length.

Install before you fly — and quick fixes

1. At home and on Wi-Fi, scan the QR code from your email or the My eSIM page. iPhone: Settings › Cellular › Add eSIM › Use QR Code (Cellular is called Mobile Data in some regions). Android: Settings › Connections or Network & internet › SIM manager › Add eSIM.
2. Label the new line “India” and choose it for mobile data; keep your home SIM for calls and texts.
3. Turn on data roaming for the eSIM line. The eSIM joins Airtel as a visitor, and roaming costs nothing extra because the data is prepaid. Keep data roaming off on your home SIM.
4. When you land, switch off airplane mode. The plan’s validity starts when the eSIM first connects to a network in India, not when you buy or install it, and an eSIM you have not installed yet usually stays valid to install for 180 days after purchase.

If something does not work:

• No data: check that data roaming is on for the eSIM and that the eSIM is your mobile-data line, then switch airplane mode on and off or restart the phone.
• No service in a covered area: turn off automatic network selection and choose Airtel manually.
• Connected but slow: check your remaining data on My eSIM. A used-up plan marked Top-up can be refilled there, or you can add a new plan.

Still stuck? Contact us with your order email — we reply within 24 hours. Arriving soon? Our airport arrival guide covers the first hour in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Goa.

Frequently asked questions

Does the India eSIM give me an Indian phone number?

No. It is data-only, so it cannot receive SMS codes sent to +91 numbers. Your home SIM keeps working for texts, and you can call over WhatsApp or FaceTime.

Which network does the India eSIM use?

Every India plan runs on Airtel. Expect good coverage in cities, tourist towns and along main routes, and weak signal or none in remote Himalayan, desert and rural areas.

Will the India eSIM work in Kashmir or Ladakh?

Possibly not, because mobile connections there fall under stricter security rules. If either region is on your itinerary, contact us before buying and count on hotel Wi-Fi as your backup.