Best eSIM for India: SIM rules, UPI and coverage

Mobile data in India is famously cheap for residents. As a visitor, the hard part is getting connected at all: SIM paperwork, one-time codes sent to Indian numbers, and a payment system that lives on your phone. This guide covers what a local SIM really involves, how Airtel and Vi cover the places travelers go, from Delhi and Mumbai to Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan and Ladakh, how to pay with UPI without an Indian bank account, and how much data to buy.

In short: A local SIM needs a passport, visa and Indian address, then a wait of hours or days before it works.

You can buy a local prepaid SIM at airport counters and city stores, but it isn't a quick kiosk purchase. Under the verification process for foreign visitors, you need a passport with a valid visa, a passport-size photo and an Indian address: a local contact or tour operator, or your hotel if you have neither. A tourist connection can't outlast your visa and runs for three months at most at a time.

Then comes the wait. The SIM is handed over locked: until you confirm your details by phone with the operator, it can only call the operator, and the seller sets a waiting period that the industry's own guide puts at anywhere from 4 hours to 2 days. Land late at night and you may leave the airport offline.

In short: Zwitchy connects on Airtel and Vi, with 5G where available and 4G elsewhere.

Zwitchy's India eSIM connects on Airtel and Vi (Vodafone Idea), two of India's big national networks, with 5G where available and 4G elsewhere. There's nothing to pick by hand: turn on Data Roaming for the eSIM and your phone joins the network available where you are.

Both are still building out 5G. Airtel reported 5G in all 14 districts of Kerala back in 2023, and in June 2026 said it had added more than 2,900 5G sites in a year across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Vi launched 5G in 2025 and is adding cities in waves: 33 more in Kerala and 11 in Rajasthan in 2026, plus new cities in Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Where there's no 5G you're on 4G, which handles maps, ride-hailing and video calls.

In short: Cities and the classic circuits are well covered; backwaters, hills and desert camps can be patchy.

Coverage follows people. The big cities and the classic tourist circuits are well served, and signal thins out in open countryside, hill roads and desert. Roughly what to expect:

Heading into the countryside? Download offline maps and save your train tickets before you set off.

In short: Connections there are unreliable, so treat the eSIM as a bonus and go prepared offline.

Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are a special case. Indian prepaid SIMs bought in other states are widely reported not to work there, for security reasons, and travelers' reports on foreign roaming connections, which is how a travel eSIM connects, are mixed. We can't promise your eSIM will connect in Leh or Srinagar, so treat it as a bonus there, not your only line.

Before a Ladakh leg, download offline maps, save your hotel and permit details offline, share your route with someone at home, and plan on guesthouse Wi-Fi in places. Expect signal to fade quickly on the high passes and around the lakes away from Leh.

In short: The eSIM has no +91 number, so keep your home SIM on for texts and use apps that accept foreign numbers.

Zwitchy's India eSIM is data-only, so it doesn't come with a +91 number. That matters more in India than in most places: many Indian apps, from food delivery to wallets, sign you in with a one-time code sent by SMS to an Indian mobile number, and a data-only eSIM can't receive it.

Many Indian apps sign you in with a code sent to an Indian number, and a data-only eSIM can't receive it.

Some apps have caught up. Swiggy added logins with foreign numbers from 27 countries in 2024, and Indian Railways' IRCTC lets foreign users register with an international number, verified by a code to that number and another to your email. For those codes, keep your home SIM switched on: the eSIM handles data, and your own number still receives texts. If they don't arrive, see SMS codes not arriving abroad?

• Keep your home SIM on for texts, with its data roaming off, so codes from your bank and from apps that accept foreign numbers still arrive.
• Use WhatsApp as usual: it stays tied to your home number and runs over the eSIM's data.
• Ask your hotel or tour operator to book anything that insists on a +91 number.
• Staying for months, or need a local number for everything? Add a local SIM as a second line after you land, and keep the eSIM for data until it's active.

In short: UPI One World lets visitors pay by QR with a passport, visa and an international card.

UPI, India's instant payment system, runs on QR codes at shops, cafes and street stalls across the country. Normally it needs an Indian bank account and phone number. The workaround is UPI One World, a prepaid UPI wallet for foreign visitors that NPCI, which runs UPI, opened to inbound travelers from all countries in 2024: you complete KYC with your passport and visa, load it with an international card and pay by scanning QR codes.

In NPCI's February 2026 instructions, sign-up runs through the CheqUPI app: enter your details, upload your passport and visa, take a selfie and set a UPI PIN. You can load up to ₹25,000 at a time, at most twice and ₹50,000 a month. NPCI says it works without an Indian mobile number or bank account, though some countries are excluded. Check that it's open to you in the app before you rely on it.

In short: Get your e-Visa, file the e-Arrival card, install the eSIM at home and switch it on after landing.

Most visitors need a visa in advance. Apply for an e-Visa at least 4 days before you arrive and no more than 120 days ahead, with a passport valid for at least six months. In the 72 hours before you land, also file the free e-Arrival card, online or in the Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app, and expect your fingerprints and photo to be taken at immigration.

The main international gateways are Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM) and Bengaluru (BLR), Goa has Dabolim (GOI) and Mopa (GOX), and Kerala's main airport is Kochi (COK). Install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi, then after immigration set it as your data line and switch on Data Roaming for it.

In short: Most travelers use 3 to 5 GB a week on maps, rides and messaging.

Maps, ride-hailing apps and WhatsApp run all day in India, and video calls home add up. Most travelers use 3 to 5 GB a week, more if you post videos or work remotely:

In short: Take 5 GB for a week, 10 GB for two, and unlimited if you'd rather not count.

Every India plan lasts 30 days and comes in 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30 or 50 GB. Unlimited plans run for 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 days: each day you get 1 GB at full speed, then slower speed for the rest of that day. A 100 MB plan covers a single day, enough to get you through arrival. All of them are data-only. Match your trip:

• A week in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur: the 5 GB plan covers maps, rides and messaging.
• Two weeks, say Rajasthan plus Goa or Kerala: the 10 GB plan.
• A month of backpacking, remote work or lots of video: the 20 GB plan or bigger.
• Steady daily use without counting: unlimited for as many days as you're there.

Want one pick? Take 10 GB for two weeks. If you run low, a top-up takes seconds.

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