iPhone may not be as reasonable in India!!

Now, here is a shocker for the one's who are waiting to buy iPhone 3G. The iPhone which costs $199 in th US, may not come at that rate in India i.e around 8000 Rs. It would have been a market slip for the competitors like Nokia , who rule the inidan market with the smartphones. Nokia has previously launched N95 with a storage capacity of 8 Gb, similar that of iPhone, which costed well over rs 25000 and is yet to launch N96 which would range around Rs 36000.
The US operator AT&T sells the smartphone at a subsidised rate of $199. The Market estimates for each phone that AT&T pays is around $499 i.e to say that the operators are subsidising each handset to an extent of $300.
Indian Operators are staying mum as for the rates are concerned. If the talks of the CEO of Bharti Airtel are to be considered iPhone will not be coming at a subsdised rate. When asked for the reason he stated that 'The US operators could adjust with a subsidised rate, as they cover up the expense through the call charges. But in India , its not so'. Approximately, the iPhone would cost around $499 i.e around 21000. But the smartphone awaiters can expect a little waiver on the cost if Apple chooses to offer it a lower profit margin. Now all those iPhone seekers have to expect is a little co-operation from Indian government and a little waiver from Apple!!!