“Crowds lined up outside a Gurgaon mall and a few shops in Delhi to pick up the latest Apple iPhone that went on sale at midnight on Thursday in India. And no one was daunted by the Rs 30,000-plus price,” IBN Live reports.

“The Apple iPhone 3G (third generation) was launched across India by telecom majors Bharti Airtel and Vodafone,” IBN Live reports.

MacDailyNews Take: We contacted Bharti Airtel and Vodafone to ask if people had been paid to stand in line, and they both responded: “What do you think we are, Polish?“*

“Swati, a college student, was the first one to pick up the phone at Gurgaon’s Sahara Mall. Swati was waiting at the Sahara Mall from 7 pm. The phone was handed over to her by president of Bharti Mobile Services, Sanjay Kapoor,” IBN Live reports.

“The iPhone is priced at Rs 31,000 for 8GB and Rs 36,100 for 16GB of memory space,” IBN Live reports. “The phones are being given on first come first serve basis.”

“Airtel has received 200,000 pre-bookings for the phone since the process had started about two months back, said Airtel president (mobility) Sanjay Kapoor,” IBN Live reports.

“According to a recent survey, more than 150,000 iPhones (2G) are already being used in the country, which have either been imported by enthusiasts or bought in the grey market,” IBN Live reports.

Full article here.

First person in India to get official Apple iPhone 3G:

*Just kidding, we did not contact Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.