Jiophone Next to be available from Diwali for Rs 6,499 apiece

Jiophone Next will be available from Diwali for Rs 6,499 per unit for customers wanting to buy the smartphone without financing option, Jio and Google said in a joint statement on Friday.

Jio is also giving a finance option for the Jiophone Next where users can make an upfront payment of Rs 1,999 and pay the rest in easy monthly instalments spread across 18-24 months, the company said in a statement.

"This is the first time that a phone in the entry-level category is getting a financing option.

"This makes the entry price extremely affordable and almost equal to a feature phone price," the joint statement said.

The smartphone, build on Qualcomm chipset, will be available across India on JioMart Digital retail stores.

"I am delighted that Google and Jio teams have succeeded in bringing this breakthrough device to Indian consumers in time for the festival season, in spite of the current global supply chain challenges caused by the COVID pandemic," said Reliance Industries Limited chairman and managing director Mukesh D Ambani.

The company is also offering data and talk-time bundled with EMI payments for Jionext phone.

"I have always been a firm believer in the power of the Digital Revolution to enrich, enable and empower the lives of 1.35 billion Indians.

"We have done it in the past with connectivity.

"Now, we are enabling it again with a smartphone device," Ambani said.

Image used for representation purpose only.

Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters