ChatGPT's presence is increasingly felt in India, marking a significant shift in the country's AI landscape. Several key developments signal ChatGPT's growing influence and the broader AI revolution unfolding in India.

OpenAI is actively expanding its reach in India through strategic partnerships and affordable subscription plans. The company is reportedly in discussions with Indian data center companies like Sify Technologies and Reliance Industries to potentially bring its Stargate supercomputing project to India, with the Indian government encouraging OpenAI to invest significantly in the country and store Indian user data locally. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noted India as the company's second-largest market, with the potential to become the largest, emphasizing the company's commitment to making AI more affordable and accessible across the country.

In August 2025, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Go in India, a low-cost subscription plan designed to provide expanded access to its features at an affordable price of ₹399 per month. This plan offers higher message limits, more image generations, and additional file uploads compared to the free version, though it excludes access to legacy models like GPT-4o and Sora. This move is aimed at capturing the mass market with budget-friendly plans, challenging other tech giants.

Furthermore, OpenAI is collaborating with educational institutions to promote AI literacy and practical application. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has partnered with OpenAI to offer 150,000 free ChatGPT Go licenses to students and faculty members in AICTE-affiliated public institutions for six months. The Ministry of Education has also joined forces with OpenAI, granting government school teachers access to ChatGPT. OpenAI has also partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, investing $500,000 to support long-term research on the role of AI in education. Over the next six months, OpenAI plans to distribute nearly five lakh ChatGPT licenses through various collaborations, with training programs for students and educators to ensure effective resource utilization.

However, ChatGPT's arrival in India has also spurred the development of indigenous AI alternatives tailored to the country's unique linguistic and cultural landscape. Models like Hanooman GPT, developed by IIT Bombay in partnership with SML, and Bhashini are designed to understand and preserve India's linguistic heritage, offering a competitive edge in functionality and social impact. Hanooman GPT supports multiple Indian languages and aims to build a "BharatGPT ecosystem" catering to AI needs across various sectors. Other notable Indian AI chatbots include Krutrim, Sarvam AI's OpenHathi, Haptik, and BharatGPT, each with unique features and capabilities. BharatGPT, for instance, supports over 14 Indian languages across text, voice, and video and offers a "Mini" version for offline use in low-connectivity areas.

These indigenous alternatives prioritize linguistic understanding and cultural nuance, addressing a gap that global models like ChatGPT may sometimes miss. They also emphasize data localization and security, aligning with the Indian government's vision of "Make AI in India, Make AI work for India". Google has also launched its Gemini AI Plus plan in India, priced similarly to ChatGPT Go, to capture the mass market.