Ringing Bells to launch smartphone at under Rs500

Indian handset maker Ringing Bells says it will launch the country's most affordable smartphone 'Freedom 251' priced at under Rs500 later this week, in a move that is set to disrupt the booming handset market in the country.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikkar will launch the smartphone 'Freedom 251' on 17 February.

The Ringing Bells 'Freedom 251' launch is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for ''empowering India to the last person, transforming India's growth story'', the Noida-based company said.

''The phone will be popularly priced at under Rs 500 … this event and launch stands as a true testimony of success of the latest initiatives taken by the Government of India,'' according to a media invite sent by the firm.

At present, smartphones available in the market are priced at a minimum of around Rs1,500. Last year, DataWind had announced that it is teaming up with Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications to launch the world's most affordable smartphone, priced at Rs 999. The phone is yet to hit the market.

Established last year, Ringing Bells will start with the assembly of handsets in Phase-I and aims at full indigenous development of the feature-rich smartphones, it said.

It did not disclose any other details about manufacturing, products and pricing.

A new entrant in the Indian mobile phone market, Ringing Bells had launched one of India's cheapest 4G smartphone at Rs2,999, recently. It has launched two other feature phones in the market.

India, one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally, is poised to overtake the US as the second-largest market in next few years.

In the last few months, global smartphone makers, including the likes of Xiaomi, Motorola and Gionee have commenced assembling their handsets in India, where the government is pushing local manufacturing through its Make in India initiative.