The top global tech companies are falling over themselves to get their products into the hands of India’s 1.5 billion-strong population.
In the latest move in the space, Adobe has partnered with Bharti Airtel to offer Adobe Express Premium free for one year to all 360 million Airtel customers across India. The subscription, valued at approximately ₹4,000 ($48), will be available to mobile, Wi-Fi, and DTH customers through the Airtel Thanks App with no credit card required.
The deal marks Adobe’s aggressive push into the Indian market as it faces mounting competition from AI-native platforms. Airtel previously partnered with Perplexity to provide free access to its AI-powered search engine, while rival Reliance Jio countered with a Google partnership offering Gemini AI integration. Google has also rolled out free plans for Indian students, and ChatGPT Go is available free for one year to Indian users.
For Adobe, the stakes are high. Both ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini now feature powerful image generation and video editing capabilities that directly compete with Adobe’s core creative suite offerings. As generative AI democratizes content creation, Adobe is racing to protect its market share against competitors offering similar tools for free or at aggressive price points.
Adobe Express Premium includes AI-powered features like instant background removal, custom image generation, one-tap video editing, and access to thousands of templates tailored for Indian festivals, weddings, and local businesses. The platform supports English, Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali, positioning it for India’s diverse linguistic landscape.
“We are excited to partner with Airtel to bring Adobe Express Premium to millions of people across India for free, accelerating the growth of India’s vibrant creator economy,” said David Wadhwani, President of Digital Media at Adobe.
The partnership targets multiple user segments: creators producing viral content for Reels and YouTube, small businesses designing marketing materials, students building portfolios, and everyday consumers creating festival greetings and invitations. With 100GB cloud storage, over 30,000 fonts, premium Adobe Stock assets, and features like auto-captions and instant resize, Adobe is betting that a full-featured professional toolkit will win over users experimenting with lighter AI alternatives. And as India’s creator economy explodes and internet penetration deepens, the country has become the battleground where global tech giants are testing aggressive distribution strategies to lock in the next billion users.