Before you start

Passport and valid Indian visa
Proof of a Jaipur address — a hotel or serviced-apartment letter is accepted early on
Passport photographs
An unlocked handset; confirm eSIM support at the store rather than assuming it

Step-by-step

1
Bridge the first days with a travel eSIM
A data-only eSIM bought before departure removes the pressure of arriving disconnected. It will not give you an Indian number, so treat it as a bridge.
Mobile appWho: YouDay 0
2
Go to a company-owned Jio or Airtel store
Branded stores on MI Road, in C-Scheme and in the larger malls process foreign passport KYC routinely. Small mobile shops in the bazaars frequently cannot, and a badly processed SIM resurfaces later as a deactivation.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
3
Carry more documents than the list demands
Passport, visa, address proof, photographs, employer letter and FRRO registration where you have it. Requirements vary by operator and by store, and a full set avoids a second trip.
In personWho: You
4
Complete the tele-verification promptly
The SIM usually receives calls before it can make them. An automated verification call confirms your details and only then do outgoing calls and data activate. This clears in anything from half an hour to two days.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Register the number with your bank and link UPI
The number registered with your bank is the number UPI uses. Getting it right the first time avoids a branch process later.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 2
6
Diarise the SIM's validity alongside the visa
Connections issued to foreign nationals are commonly capped to visa duration and need re-verification when the visa is extended. People find out when the number simply stops working.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Original passport and visa page
Proof of Jaipur address
Passport photograph
Employer letter, and FRRO registration where available

Things most newcomers don’t know

Losing the number means losing access to your money, not just your calls.

Indian financial infrastructure is built on the mobile number — UPI is bound to it, bank one-time passwords arrive on it, and account alerts go to it. A SIM deactivated because a verification call was missed, or because a visa-linked validity lapsed, locks you out of payments entirely. That is the whole argument for using an official operator store and completing verification the same day.

Source: community-reported

Coverage falls away faster outside Jaipur than you expect.

Jaipur itself has good 4G and 5G on Jio and Airtel, but Rajasthan is India's largest state by area and much of it is sparsely populated desert. On the road to Jaisalmer, Bikaner or the Ranthambore side, data drops to nothing for long stretches. Download offline maps before any trip out of the city — this is not a formality here in the way it is in Kerala or coastal Maharashtra.

Source: community-reported

A local eSIM is no shortcut around in-person KYC.

People assume eSIM means remote activation. A Jio or Airtel eSIM still requires the same in-person passport verification; the eSIM removes only the plastic. International travel eSIMs work from day one but cost far more per gigabyte and never provide an Indian number, which is the thing UPI and your bank actually require.

Source: community-reported

Home broadband quality here is decided by the colony, not the operator.

Fibre from Jio, Airtel and local operators is cheap and fast where it has been laid, but coverage in Jaipur is patchy by colony and older parts of the city are still on inferior connections. In a market where a lot of stock is in independent houses rather than managed societies, the honest answer is to ask a neighbour rather than the operator's coverage map before signing a lease you depend on for work.

Source: community-reported