India SIM Card for Tourists: Passport, Visa, Photo and the Wait for Activation

Last updated on 4 November 2026

To buy a prepaid SIM in India as a tourist, you hand over your passport with a valid visa, a photo and an address in India, and the line works only after the operator has verified you; Jio then charges 349 rupees (about €3.29) for 28 days with 2 GB a day. The POVNOMAD India eSIM starts at €3.90 for 1 GB over 7 days, or €13.90 for 7 days of Unlimited Smart, and runs on Jio in roaming without the Indian check at a shop counter. As of 30 October 2026.

On price, Jio wins clearly: 56 GB over 28 days cost less than our 1 GB plan. What the eSIM saves you is the paperwork and the wait for activation, which the Indian operators’ association COAI puts at 4 hours to 2 days. For a trip of one or two weeks, or for the days until your Indian SIM works, that can be worth the extra euros.

Local SIM, travel eSIM or roaming: what is the difference in India?

As of 30 October 2026. Jio prices from the plan list on jio.com, rules from Jio’s Telecom Consumer Charter 2025 and the COAI page for international visitors, POVNOMAD prices from the India product page. Converted at the ECB reference rate of 30 October 2026 (€1 = 106.084 rupees).

What do you need for a SIM card in India as a tourist?

Jio’s Telecom Consumer Charter 2025 says the operator activates a line only after verifying the customer’s application form, photo, proof of identity and proof of address. For foreign customers it may also check a local reference. A foreign tourist’s line runs for at most three months or until the visa ends, whichever comes first.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) lists what you bring to the shop: a passport-size colour photo that is not a scan, a copy of your passport with a valid visa, and the original passport for inspection. As proof of address you give a local reference, which can be your tour operator, or the address where you stay, such as your hotel. After the paperwork you get the SIM, but it can only call the operator’s verification number. The shop tells you when to call, between 4 hours and 2 days later. Once the call confirms your details, the line works.

The COAI page carries no date. Indian press reports from December 2023 say the Department of Telecommunications ended paper-based KYC for new connections from 1 January 2024; the DoT documents themselves returned errors when we requested them on 30 October 2026. Jio’s 2025 charter still mentions the verification call and gives you 30 days to complete it.

• Bring your passport, a printout or copy of your visa and a passport photo.
• Write down the address of your first hotel and, if you have one, the name and phone number of a local contact.
• Keep the new SIM in your phone until the verification call has gone through.
• Plan for the end date: after three months, or when your visa expires, the line stops.

Sources: Jio Telecom Consumer Charter 2025 (page 17) and COAI, international visitors acquiring a connection in India, both read on 30 October 2026.

How much does a SIM card cost in India?

Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi) and the state operator BSNL sell prepaid lines. Jio publishes its plans as a data list that we could read on 30 October 2026, so we quote Jio. We did not compare the plan lists of Airtel and Vi.

Source: jio.com, prepaid plan list, retrieved 30 October 2026. Jio calls the data in these plans unlimited and names the daily high-speed allowance; we did not check the speed after it. The list shows no price for the SIM card itself, and we could not check whether every plan is open to foreign tourists. Euro amounts at €1 = 106.084 rupees (ECB, 30 October 2026).

Compare that with travel eSIMs bought before departure, as of 30 October 2026:

Read on 30 October 2026 on povnomad.com and airalo.com/de/india-esim (EUR view). Unlimited Smart at POVNOMAD: 1 GB at full speed per 24 hours, then up to 1 Mbit/s. Airalo slows to 1 Mbps after 3 GB a day. With 2 GB a day, our Unlimited L costs €23.90 for 7 days.

Does a travel eSIM need Indian KYC?

Not at an Indian shop. You buy the eSIM online before the trip, it is issued abroad and connects to Jio as a roaming profile, so you skip the application form, the photo and the verification call. You get no Indian number. What an eSIM cannot fix, such as regional internet shutdowns, is covered in our guide Does a travel eSIM work in India?

When is the eSIM the better choice, and when is it not?

For one or two weeks the eSIM costs more than Jio but saves you the counter and the wait: 7 days of Unlimited Smart cost €13.90, 15 days €25.90. Install it at home on Wi-Fi (instructions for iPhone and Android); validity starts on first contact with the Indian network.

Travelling on to Sri Lanka or Nepal? Our South Asia eSIM covers India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan on one profile, from €3.90 for 1 GB over 7 days. What a local SIM costs in Sri Lanka is in our Sri Lanka SIM card guide.

The Jio SIM is the better deal in these cases:

• You stay three weeks or longer. Jio charges €3.29 for 28 days with 2 GB a day, our 30-day Unlimited Smart costs €49.90.
• You need an Indian +91 number, for calls inside India or for services that send codes by text.
• You have time on arrival for the paperwork and the verification call.

This guide is also available in German.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated on 30 October 2026. Prices read on that day on jio.com, povnomad.com and airalo.com; ECB reference rate of 30 October 2026. Prices and rules may change at any time.