India telecom operators
A rickshaw puller speaks on his mobile phone as he waits for customers in front of advertisement billboards belonging to telecom companies in Kolkata February 3, 2014.REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

The competition in the Indian telecom market is getting fierce by the day. Though Reliance Jio started a revolution little over a year ago, incumbents haven't been silent spectators and are now leveling with Jio on every disruptive move.

As the competition intensifies, end consumers benefit from low-cost 4G data rates and free voice calling. In fact, it has become a standard for most telcos to offer free calls bundled with at least 1GB data per day. To choose the best bundle, it might seem like an easy choice, but it's not when you like to narrow down on that bundle which offers the highest benefits at the lowest price. 

We are listing the best prepaid plans each telco is offering in March 2018. The prepaid plans are carefully selected based on their free calling + 4G data offerings at best price. The listed telcos here are Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone.

Reliance Jio

Surprisingly, Reliance Jio hasn't made a splash of late. After its Republic Day offer, the telco hasn't slashed the tariffs or offered extra data even though its rivals Vodafone and Airtel are being quite active. But that doesn't mean Jio's prepaid plans are any less competitive. Here are the best ones for you to choose from:

Reliance Jio
A woman checks her mobile phone as she walks past a mobile store of Reliance Industries' Jio telecoms unit, in Mumbai, India, July 11, 2017.REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade

Rs 149 offers 1.5GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS per day for 28 days

Rs 349 offer 1.5GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS/day for 70 days

Rs 399 offers 1.5GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS/day for 84 days

Rs 449 offers 1.5GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS/day for 91 days

Rs 198 offers 2GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS/day for 28 days

Rs 398 offers 2GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS/day for 70 days

Rs 448 offers 2GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS/day for 84 days

Rs 498 offers 2GB 4G data per day, unlimited calls, SMS/day for 91 days

Reliance Jio offers longer validity packs with higher data allotment, but the plans we've mentioned here are the popular ones and should attract the masses.

Airtel

Airtel comes closest to Reliance Jio in terms of great offers. In some cases, the top telecom provider even surpasses the newbie with deals that are better than Jio. The telco just launched Rs 995 long-term plan for prepaid customers that offers 180 days validity, unlimited calls, 100 SMS per day but just 1GB data per month.

Bharti airtel
Bharti Airtel office, GurugramReuters

Much like Reliance Jio, Airtel has several other prepaid options for unlimited calls and data, most of them revised from their earlier tariffs. Let's take a look at the best revisions that easily go against Jio's most popular plans:

Rs 9 offers 100MB data, unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS for 1 day

Rs 19 offers 200MB data, unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS for 1 day

Rs 23 offers 100MB data, unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS for 2 days

Rs 199 offers 1.4GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 28 days

Rs 349 offers 2.5GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 28 days

Rs 399 offers 1GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 70 days

Rs 448 offers 1.4GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 82 days

Rs 509 offers 1.4GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/ day for 90 days

Airtel also has some special plans for select circles. But the plans we've mentioned are available nationwide and listed under "best-selling unlimited packs" on Airtel's official website.

Vodafone

Finally, Vodafone has come up with new plans recently to compete against the rivals. The telco did not offer many plans initially, but it is now ready to battle against Jio and Airtel with competitive plans. March has just begun and it's likely there will be some new plans in the offing until then subscribers can make the most out of Vodafone's current offerings:

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A man casts silhouette onto an electronic screen displaying logo of Vodafone India after a news conference to announce the half year results in Mumbai, India, November 10, 2015.Reuters file

Rs 199 offers 1.4GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 28 days

Rs 349 offers 2.5GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 28 days

Rs 399 offers 1GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 70 days

Rs 458 offers 1.4GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 84 days

Rs 509 offers 1.4GB data per day, unlimited calls, 100 SMS/day for 90 days

Vodafone also has high-data allotment plans for Rs 549 and Rs 799, but the plans mentioned above are widely accepted by most mobile users.

Any new plans that arrive in the coming days will be updated here.