OpenAI opening India office, plans rapid local hiring and team expansion
Pragya Misra announced India-focused products, priced for affordability and scale
Launched ChatGPT Go (₹399/month India) and Study Mode; rural adoption rising
Local usage boosts farmer incomes ~35%; India positioned as global AI hub
OpenAI plans a significant expansion in India, with multiple announcements on team growth and new initiatives expected in the coming weeks, the company’s public policy and partnerships lead, Pragya Misra, said at CNN News18’s SheShakti2025 summit.
Misra, until now OpenAI’s only India-based employee, said the move follows the company’s decision to open a formal India office and reflects a strategic shift toward building products “designed in India, for India” that can scale globally.
Misra told Moneycontrol that the company will increase its headcount in India and roll out several India-focused efforts soon.
Her remarks came a day before OpenAI officially announced its first office in India, underscoring the timeliness of the expansion. With an estimated developer base of more than 15 million in India, OpenAI sees the country as a crucial hub for both talent and product innovation.
Local-First Products & Lower Pricing
As part of the India strategy, OpenAI has begun tailoring offerings to local affordability and use patterns. On August 19, 2025, the company launched ChatGPT Go, a subscription tier priced at Rs 399 per month exclusively for Indian users, one of its most accessible plans to date.
Misra cited ChatGPT Go and Study Mode as examples of features that originated from Indian user needs before being rolled out more widely, and she emphasised that pricing and access have been recurring concerns raised by Indian founders and customers.
A striking element of OpenAI’s India narrative is rapid adoption beyond urban developers. Misra highlighted rural uptake, notably among farmers, who are reportedly using the company’s multimodal, multilingual tools to make planting, pest-control and market decisions.
She said those applications have contributed to a roughly 35% increase in farmer incomes in some cases, and that easier interfaces have helped broaden access for women and frontline workers such as Anganwadi and ASHA staff.
OpenAI’s India push combines commercial, product and social objectives: recruiting talent, reducing cost barriers to expand user reach, and testing locally relevant features that can later be globalised. The company’s approach reflects a broader industry pattern in which global AI firms localise both engineering and pricing to win market share in populous, fast-growing markets.
Officials and industry watchers will be looking for details in the coming weeks about the size and scope of OpenAI’s India hires, specific product roadmaps tied to the office, and partnerships with local developers, startups and public-sector players.
The company’s ability to translate local experiments into scalable, affordable global features will be key to measuring the success of its India strategy.
