THIS ultra-cheap 4G VoLTE phone is a hit in India with record sales: No, it's not JioPhone!

There are a lot of budget smartphone brands in India that offer good-value phones. Micromax is one of them and it has successfully managed to hold the fort, despite the growing popularity of Chinese smartphones in the country.

Micromax has been making strategised moves to combat the Chinese OEMs forces and survive the changing trends of the Indian smartphone market. A few months ago, the company introduced new Bharat series, targeting the budget shoppers and it seems to be a hit.

First of the Micromax Bharat series, the Bharat 2 smartphone, has been well received by consumers and the impressive sales are a proof of that. On Monday, the Indian smartphone manufacturer revealed that it has successfully sold 20 lakh units of Bharat 2 smartphones in the last 5 months. Micromax also claims it is India's fastest selling Google-certified smartphone in the budget category.

The latest feat comes after the ultra-affordable smartphone gained popularity in its initial days itself. Micromax Bharat 2 was an instant hit when it was launched in April this year. In a matter of 50 days, the company had sold more than half a million phones.

It is a good sign for a relatively-new series, which is expected to contribute 25 percent to the Micromax's portfolio, Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma said in a statement.

"There are more than 400 million feature phone users who are waiting to move to smartphones that give the experience without straining their budgets. The exception[al] acceptance of Bharat-2 is a testimony of our vision and also goes to prove that there is a huge appetite for budget VoLTE smartphones amongst the Indian telecom subscriber. Hence, we are further working towards fulfilling the need gap for our consumers and with the expansion of Bharat series, we believe that we will truly drive the next phase of smartphone adoption in the country," Sharma added.

The primary reason for the success of Bharat 2 in India is its low price. The handset is priced at Rs. 3,499, making it one of the cheapest offerings in the country. In terms of specifications, nothing is bound to impress much, but the strongest USPs include 4G VoLTE, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Wi-Fi and GPS features.

Bharat 2 comes with a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1.3GHz Spreadtrum SC9832 quad-core processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB expandable storage.

What's next for Bharat series?

While announcing the latest feat for Bharat 2 in India, Micromax also anonuced the launch of three new Bharat smartphones - Bharat-2 Plus, Bharat-3 and Bharat-4 – which will be available in retail stores within the next fortnight.

With the expansion of the only Google certified series of smartphones in the budget category in India, Micromax is aiming at helping the migration from feature phone to smartphone category.

If that vision rings any bells, it is because Reliance Jio had a similar goal of getting millions of feature phone users online. As a part of the solution, the Mukesh Ambani-backed company launched JioPhone, which has gained an immense response.

But due to an overwhelming demand, the bookings for the JioPhone have been suspended temporarily. On the first day of pre-bookings, JioPhone breached the 6 million mark. It is a guaranteed success since pre-booking requires buyers to pay Rs. 500 upfront with the remaining Rs. 1000 to be paid at the time of delivery.

With phones like Bharat 2, JioPhone and ultra-affordable smartphones from Idea Cellular and Airtel that are expected to hit markets soon, India is certainly on a fast track towards 'Digital India.'