Roaming Abroad From India in 2026: Jio, Airtel and Vi Packs Compared With Travel eSIMs
Prices, benefits and coverage can vary by destination, customer account and partner network. Travellers should confirm the applicable benefits with the provider before purchasing. International travel by Indians continues to grow.
Prices, benefits and coverage can vary by destination, customer account and partner network. Travellers should confirm the applicable benefits with the provider before purchasing.
International travel by Indians continues to grow. These represent departures rather than the number of unique travellers.
What Happened
For anyone travelling abroad, connectivity generally comes down to three requirements: mobile data, continued access to an Indian number and, in some cases, a phone number that can be used locally at the destination. Travel eSIMs can provide additional data, while a.
Government data show that Indian nationals made approximately 30.89 million international departures in 2024.
The UAE was the leading destination with about 7.79 million departures from India, followed by Saudi Arabia at 3.42 million, the United States at 2.14 million and Thailand at 1.91 million.
For example, a tariff of ₹6.5 per 10KB would translate to approximately ₹665 per MB and around ₹6.8 lakh for 1,024MB.
Key Details
However, standard charges without a pack can vary significantly depending on the destination, partner network, type of service and whether the customer is on a prepaid or postpaid connection. Some published standard roaming tariffs charge data in small units such as 10KB.
A 50MB background synchronisation could cost more than ₹33,000 if that rate applies to the customer’s destination and connection.
Jio’s lower standard tariff in certain destinations may work out to approximately ₹2 per MB.
However, even at this rate, consuming 1GB without a pack could cost more than ₹2,000.
Why It Matters
Even a rate that appears small on this basis can become expensive when converted into megabytes or gigabytes. These examples are not universal tariffs for every country.
Jio’s ₹1,555 pack is particularly competitive for eligible travel across the United States and other destinations covered by the pack.
The ₹5,195 pack can provide unlimited benefits in countries classified by Vi as unlimited destinations.
What Reports Say
Coverage of the story so far points to:
Continued reporting by TelecomTalk as more details emerge
