Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: OpenAI has announced a new subscription tier for ChatGPT in India, underscoring the country’s growing importance as a global hub for artificial intelligence adoption.
The ChatGPT Go plan, launched at ₹399 per month, is the company’s most affordable offering worldwide and comes bundled with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration, allowing millions of Indians to pay seamlessly through Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm and other apps.
The move signals OpenAI’s intent to deepen its presence in India, a market that CEO Sam Altman recently described as poised to become the company’s largest by volume.
Affordable access to AI
The new Go plan provides ten times the daily usage limits of the free tier, including expanded access to image generation, file uploads and longer chat memory. However, premium features such as priority during peak hours and early access to new tools remain reserved for the higher-priced Plus (₹1,999) and Pro (₹19,900) plans.
By positioning Go as a bridge between free and premium access, OpenAI aims to capture students, small businesses and creators in India who demand affordability without compromising on capability.
India, with its 971 million internet subscribers and record-breaking UPI transactions exceeding ₹25 lakh crore in July 2025, offers the scale and digital infrastructure that make it uniquely suited for mass-market AI adoption. Altman has repeatedly highlighted India’s role as both a testing ground and a growth driver for OpenAI’s expansion plans.
OpenAI unveils India-first payment plan with UPI integration
In June 2025, OpenAI formalised its collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) under the IndiaAI Mission, launching the OpenAI Academy — the company’s first overseas skilling platform. The initiative aims to integrate AI learning into India’s education and training ecosystem, offering API credits for startups and capacity-building programmes for developers.
This dovetails with the Government’s ambitious ₹10,371 crore IndiaAI Mission, which focuses on building indigenous datasets, expanding compute capacity and training the next generation of AI professionals.
Competitive landscape
OpenAI’s India-first pricing strategy directly challenges rivals. Google’s Gemini Pro subscription is priced around ₹1,950 per month, while Microsoft Copilot Pro costs between ₹2,000 and ₹2,495 per month. Anthropic’s Claude Pro, meanwhile, remains fixed at US$20 globally, without any India-specific pricing. By contrast, OpenAI’s Go plan undercuts competitors by more than half, offering a cost advantage in a highly price-sensitive market.
The launch also coincides with the roll-out of GPT-5, OpenAI’s latest flagship model, which is now available to ChatGPT subscribers. While Plus and Pro users retain priority access and greater compute, the Go plan makes advanced generative AI tools accessible to millions more in India.
As the AI race intensifies, India’s combination of digital payment rails, vast user base and government-backed skilling programmes could transform it into the testing ground for global AI adoption models. For OpenAI, this India-first approach is more than a pricing experiment — it is a long-term bet on the country’s role as a critical driver of the AI economy.