Buying a SIM card at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj airport

What is actually at arrivals

Two networks sell to arriving passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International: Airtel and Jio. Both need your passport, because an Indian prepaid line cannot be issued without KYC identity verification, and that requirement is enforced rather than decorative.

Expect roughly 30 minutes of queue at peak, 10 minutes off-peak. Mumbai is the good one, incidentally — the process here is generally smoother than Delhi's.

The queue is not the part that costs you. Even after you reach the counter and hand over the passport, the SIM does not necessarily work: the KYC check can take hours to clear before the line activates. You can walk out of the terminal holding a SIM that is not yet a working phone number, which is precisely the situation you were trying to avoid. An eSIM installed before you fly is live from the moment the aircraft doors open.

What we do not hold for BOM

No terminal-level detail. We cannot tell you which terminal the desks sit in, what the shops are called, or what hours they keep. If your flight lands overnight, do not build the arrival around finding a counter staffed — we have no evidence either way.

Airport wifi is normally available across the terminal, which is enough to message whoever is meeting you while you decide.

Seven dollars against the eSIM ladder

A local SIM bought at an Indian airport runs about $7. That is cheap, and it is the honest argument against everything else on this page. The gap in the argument is that our data records the price and not the allowance — we cannot tell you whether $7 buys 2 GB or 20, so treat it as a promising lead rather than a settled win.

Here is what the same money buys as a travel eSIM. Airalo rows were read from its own site on 13 August 2026 and Nomad's from its own on 18 August.

India does not stop at 20 GB after all

In most countries we cover, the sensible move is to scroll to the bottom of the price list, where a large plan usually turns out to be the cheapest per gigabyte by a distance. Turkey runs to a verified 50 GB at $31. The Philippines reaches 50 GB at $48.

This page used to say India had no such plan — that the largest metered package in our Indian data was 20 GB and the cheapest gigabyte in the country was $1.83. That was true of Airalo's and Saily's ladders and false about the market. Nomad's Indian prices were read off its own site on 17 August 2026, and they include 50 GB over 30 days at $43, or 86 cents a gigabyte. That is the cheapest data in India and roughly half the rate we previously gave as the floor.

So the usual advice to buy big does apply here after all. Unlimited-style packages exist from Airalo, Nomad and Holafly, sold by the day; Airalo's 30-day unlimited is $99, verified, and Nomad's ten-day is $33. Indian eSIM data is still dear against the local counter, and what you are mostly buying is the right to skip the KYC desk.

Should you queue?

Buy at the counter if you are in India for several weeks, want an Indian number for domestic bookings and deliveries, and have nothing time-critical on the day you land. Budget an hour of your arrival, and accept that activation may finish later than you do.

Do not queue if you are here for a week, if you land late, or if you have a car booked and someone expecting a message. Half an hour of standing plus an uncertain activation window is a bad trade against a plan that is already working when you switch off flight mode.

If your phone cannot take an eSIM, the decision is made for you — check that before you fly, on our compatible phones list, not at the baggage carousel. Full Indian pricing across every provider is on the India hub.