Madhav Sheth returns with a Realme-like peak to climb

Sheth had solidified the stature of Chinese electronics brand Realme in the Indian market

- Shouvik Das

A new homegrown brand has announced its entry into India's cut-throat smartphone market with two sub-₹10,000 devices, aiming to "convert" the nearly 200 million users who still use "feature" phones on 2G networks.

The highlight of the launch on Tuesday wasn't so much the budget smartphones but the person heading the venture—Madhav Sheth, once wildly popular in India's consumer tech market for solidifying the stature of Chinese electronics brand Realme.

In his new stint as a co-founder, Sheth is betting big on converting users of basic mobile phones with alphanumeric keypads into smartphone users—a market even Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio had to change its stance on.