We Indians are always on the lookout for what offers the best value for our hard-earned money whether it is buying a car with superior mileage, (yes, “kitna deti hai?” matters the most), or getting a smartphone with best features, and even searching for cashback coupon codes before doing an online recharge.
Now as Reliance Jio has disrupted the Indian telecom market, most of us have a temporary Jio number. You would find very few people who are using Jio SIM as their primary mobile connection. While we all are tempted to use Jio as our primary connection but can’t do so due to various reasons, we all want the best plan from our current telecom operator.
We did some research about the same and here are some of the best prepaid plans from top Indian telecom operators which offer the best value for your money:
Note: The plans mentioned belong to different telecom circles and may be available in your telecom circle with a slightly different price tag or benefits.
Airtel
Airtel is the biggest Indian telecom operator having over 200 million subscribers. The company offers a number of prepaid plans, and here are some of the best plans offered by the company in the Punjab telecom circle:
| Sr. No | Prepaid Plan | Details | Remarks |
| 1 | Rs.146 | Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 Days | This plan is Airtel’s answer to Jio’s Rs. 149 unlimited calling plan. This plan offers unlimited local/STD calling to any Airtel number. Yes, only Airtel-Airtel calls are free, but the subscribers using 4G phones would get 300 MB 4G data, whereas those on feature phones will get 50 MB data. |
| 2 | Rs. 194 | Local/STD Minutes, 28 days | This plan offers prepaid users 420 local/STD minutes. This comes out to 14 mins/day which is good enough for making long calls. |
| 3 | Rs. 197 | Local/STD Seconds, 28 days | This plan offers the prepaid users 18,000 local/STD seconds and is ideal for those who make a lot of small conversations. |
| 4 | Rs. 349 | TRULY Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 Days | This pack offers unlimited Local and STD calls to any network in the country along with 1 GB 4G to subscribers using 4G phones, and 50 MB data to those using basic feature phones. |
| 5 | Rs. 1494 | Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 days | It offers unlimited local/STD calls and 5 GB data. |
| 6 | Rs. 1846 | Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 days | It also offers unlimited calling with free data benefit of 10 GB. |
| 7 | Rs. 1,997 |
Best Long Validity Plan, 84 days | It is the best long validity plan for those who don’t use data much, but love to express themselves via voice calls. The plan offers unlimited local/STD calls along with 3 GB data. |
Idea
Idea Cellular is the third largest telecom operator in the country based on the subscriber count. It is also the one that advertises very heavily about the innovative uses of its 4G services. Here are some of the best plans that Idea Cellular is offering at the moment for Maharashtra & Goa:
| Sr. No | Prepaid Plan | Details | Remarks |
| 1 | Rs. 99 | Local/STD Seconds, 28 Days | This entry-level plan offers 12,500 seconds (Local/STD) and is good enough for those who make small conversations on phones. |
| 2 | Rs.148 | Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 Days | This plans offers the subscribers unlimited Idea to Idea calls (Local and STD) along with 50 MB data. Subscribers on 4G phones will get 300 MB 4G data in addition to the voice benefits. |
| 3 | Rs. 199 | Local/STD Seconds, 28 Days | This plan offers 27,500 local/STD seconds and is ideal for small businessmen. |
| 4 | Rs. 294 | Local/STD Minutes + Data, 28 Days | This plan offers 400 local/STD voice minutes along with 1 GB 3G/4G data. |
| 5 | Rs. 348 | TRULY Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 Days | This plans offers the subscribers unlimited Local/STD calls to any network along with 50 MB data. Those using 4G phones will get 1 GB 4G data in addition to the voice benefits. |
| 6 | Rs. 495 | Local/STD Minutes + Data, 28 Days | This plan offers 800 local/STD voice minutes along with 2 GB 3G/4G data and is by far the most suitable pack for those who are seeking a good combination of voice and data. |
| 7 | Rs. 694 |
Unlimited Local/STD Calls, 28 Days | This packs offers unlimited local/STD calls. The catch here is, that the customer should not use the pack for any sort of commercial calling. Please refer to Idea website for more details |
| 8 | Rs. 497 | 3G/4G Data, 28 Days | This plan offers 2.25 GB + 2.25 GB data and an additional 250 MB via My Idea app. |
| 9 | Rs. 1498 | Data Plan, 28 Days | This data is for heavy data users who don’t plan on moving to any other network for at least a year. It offers 15 GB 3G/4G data valid for 28 days, post which the users would be able to avail additional data each month at Rs. 51/GB. |
Idea also offers unlimited data plans with not so attractive data benefits and FUP limit of 40 Kbps for 1 GB overage and 20 Kbps thereafter.
Vodafone
While I like Vodafone Flex recharges for their flexibility, not everyone would be able to use it to its full potential. There are some who use their phone only for making calls while there are some youngsters whose smartphone usage is more or less linked with surfing the internet. Here are some of the best Vodafone prepaid plans from the Maharashtra & Goa telecom circle:
| Sr. No | Prepaid Plan | Details | Remarks |
| 1 | Rs. 31 | Voice Rate Cutter, 60 Days | This plan offers all calls to local/STD mobile numbers at just 1p/sec. If you make a few minutes of calls every day then you should couple this plan with full talk-time recharge to get the best value for your money. |
| 2 | Rs. 150 | Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 Days | Priced at around Rs. 350 (might vary in different circles) this pack offers unlimited Local/STD calls to any network along with 50 MB data. Subscribers on 4G phones will get 1 GB 4G data along with the voice benefits. |
| 3 | Rs. 350 | Unlimited Local/STD Calling + Data, 28 Days | Priced at around Rs. 350 (might vary in different circles) this pack offers unlimited Local/STD calls to any network along with 50 MB data. Subscribers on 4G phones will get 1 GB 4G data along with the voice benefits. |
| 2 | Rs. 499 | Integrated Recharge, 28 days | This bonus card offers 700 Local/STD mobile minutes along with 2 GB 3G/4G data and is ideal for all college goers. |
| 3 | Rs. 998 | Integrated Recharge, 28 days | Being an extended version of Rs. 499 bonus card, this plan offers 2,000 local/STD mobile minutes along with 6 GB 3G/4G data. |
| 4 | Rs. 859 | Unlimited Calling Plan, 28 days | It offers unlimited calling to all STD/mobile numbers, but is restricted to a maximum of 5,000 minutes. This translates to about 17p/minute. |
These are some of the best prepaid plans available from the leading telecom operators in India. In case we missed your favourite tariff plan then please let us know why you think it is the best via the comments.
Disclaimer: While we have taken great care while verifying the existence of these plans from the official telecom operator websites as well from various recharge apps, some plans might be withdrawn over time and some might just not be available in your telecom circle. We would advise you to please confirm the validity of these plans before proceeding with the recharge.