Telegram Ads in India: Complete Advertising Guide (2026)
India is one of the cheapest markets we have measured on Telegram Ads: €0.25 CPM, 1.12% CTR and €0.022 per click on our Euro accounts (17.3M impressions, 8 accounts, 3 Oct 2026), and 0.42 TON per thousand impressions on our TON accounts (12.0M impressions, 14 accounts). Target India by country and add English or Hindi language targeting — both work on Euro, TON and Stars accounts since 22 August 2026; there is no city-level targeting. An Adsly Euro account for India opens in 2 business days on our EU entity, with no KYC and a €500 minimum ad budget (€1,000 for crypto). Crypto ads need the ASCI risk disclaimer; real-money gaming ads are prohibited by India's Online Gaming Act 2025.
Telegram in India: Market Overview
Telegram does not publish user numbers by country, so every India figure comes from a third party. The most recent one from a named analytics source is data.ai’s, reported by TechCrunch in October 2022: more than 120 million monthly active users in India, where Telegram was the second most popular messaging app after WhatsApp.
The market around it is large and young. DataReportal’s Digital 2026: India counts 1.03 billion internet users at the end of 2025 (70.0% of the population), a median age of 28.8, and a social media audience in which 64.4% of user identities are male. Those figures describe India’s internet as a whole, not Telegram: no reliable public breakdown of Telegram’s Indian audience by age, gender, device or language exists, and we do not quote one. What we can measure is what that audience costs to reach — and India is one of the cheapest markets in our data.
Quick Stats
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Telegram users in India | 120M+ monthly active (data.ai, 2022, via TechCrunch) |
| Internet users | 1.03 billion, 70.0% of the population (DataReportal, end of 2025) |
| Measured CPM, TON accounts | 0.42 TON (22 Aug – 3 Oct 2026) |
| Measured CPM, Euro accounts | €0.25 (as of 3 Oct 2026) |
| Verticals that fit | Crypto, EdTech, Tech, Finance |
| Ad languages | English and Hindi; Tamil, Telugu or Bengali for regional offers |
| Account type | Euro World account (website landing pages, channels, bots) |
| Not for India | Real-money gaming and betting ads (Online Gaming Act 2025) |
What it costs — measured on our accounts
Single-country campaigns targeted at India on our own accounts, all niches blended. Euro accounts are billed in euros and TON accounts in TON, and we never convert one into the other:
| Account type | CPM | CTR | Cost per click | Impressions | Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Euro (as of 3 Oct 2026) | €0.25 | 1.12% | €0.022 | 17.3M | 8 |
| TON (22 Aug – 3 Oct 2026) | 0.42 TON | 1.77% | 0.024 TON | 12.0M | 14 |
For scale: our average across all Euro campaigns is €2.97 CPM at a 0.85% CTR, so India costs roughly a twelfth of that per thousand impressions and still clicks at a higher rate. We do not publish a per-niche split for India because the base is too thin to separate one niche from another honestly. The CPM by country guide has the full tables.
Best Targeting Strategies for India
Channel targeting: India has active Telegram channels in every niche. Target English-language channels for tech and crypto, Hindi channels for mass-market products. We have not measured how channel size affects engagement in India, so test mid-sized and large channels side by side and let your own CTR decide.
Geo targeting: Target India specifically to avoid budget bleed to other markets, and combine it with English or Hindi language targeting for precision. Since 22 August 2026 TON and Stars accounts have the same country, language and topic targeting as Euro accounts. Telegram Ads has no city-level targeting: to reach Mumbai or Bangalore, target channels about that city.
Topic categories: Cryptocurrencies, Education, Technology & Internet and Economy & Finance are the topics in the targeting form that match the verticals below.
Multi-language approach: Run separate campaigns for English and Hindi audiences: English reaches tech professionals, Hindi a broader mass-market audience. We have not measured a CPM or CTR split between the two languages.
Popular Advertising Verticals in India
We publish no percentage split by vertical for India: our base is too thin to separate niches, and no reliable public figure shows how Telegram’s Indian audience divides by interest. The five verticals below fit the market and the rules; the order is not a ranking.
1. Crypto & DeFi: Crypto offers run in India under a heavy tax regime and a mandatory ad disclaimer (see Regulations). A Euro World account takes both offers that live inside Telegram — channels, bots, Mini Apps — and offers that send the click to a website, with no KYC through Adsly.
2. EdTech & Online Courses: Competitive exam prep (JEE, UPSC, CAT), language learning, coding bootcamps, professional certificates.
3. Technology & SaaS: India’s IT industry creates a natural audience for developer tools, productivity apps and B2B software.
4. Financial Services: Trading platforms, mutual funds, insurance, UPI payment apps — with the disclosures listed under Regulations.
5. Casual Games & Entertainment: Mobile and Mini App games without money stakes. Real-money gaming is a different matter: its advertising is prohibited (see Regulations).
Ad Copy Tips for India
These are working practices, not measured results — we have no India-specific copy test to publish.
English ads: Professional tone, feature-focused. Use social proof you can substantiate: a real user count, a real store rating.
Hindi ads: Conversational, aspirational tone. Emphasize value and affordability; a free tier or a free first month is a natural hook in a price-sensitive market — if it is true.
Numbers matter: Specific, checkable metrics — user counts, savings amounts, ratings — read better than vague claims, and Telegram’s ad guidelines prohibit misleading statements either way.
Cultural note: Avoid religious and political references: Telegram’s ad guidelines prohibit ads that exploit political controversy or argue for or against religious beliefs. Festival season (Diwali, Holi) is a natural moment for consumer offers; we have no measured uplift to quote for it.
Regulations and Compliance
Compliance with Indian law is the advertiser’s responsibility; Telegram’s moderation reviews the ad and its destination, not your regulatory file.
Crypto: Income from the transfer of virtual digital assets is taxed at 30%, with 1% TDS on payments — introduced in the Union Budget 2022–23. Advertising crypto is not banned, but the Advertising Standards Council of India requires every virtual-digital-asset ad released on or after 1 April 2022 to carry the disclaimer “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions” (ASCI guidelines, February 2022).
Forex and trading: The Reserve Bank of India says residents “can undertake forex transactions only with authorised persons and for permitted purposes”, on RBI-authorised electronic trading platforms or recognised exchanges, and it publishes an Alert List of unauthorised platforms (RBI press release, 7 September 2022). An offshore forex or binary-options offer aimed at Indian residents is a legal risk for the advertiser, not a targeting question.
Financial services: Include disclaimers for trading and investment ads (“Investments are subject to market risks”). If the product is regulated by SEBI, check SEBI’s advertising rules for it before you write the ad.
Real-money gaming and betting: The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (presidential assent 22 August 2025) prohibits online money games and, in section 6, their advertising; the penalty for advertising is up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to ₹50 lakh, or both (official Law-as-Code summary of the Act). Telegram’s own ad guidelines prohibit gambling ads as well (section 5.6). India is not a gambling geo — the details are in India’s online gaming ban.
EdTech: Claims of UGC (University Grants Commission) recognition or of guaranteed placement must be verifiable.
Moderation: Review is fast on every account type: more than 98% of 13,199 campaigns were decided within three hours (September 2026), with approval rates of 99.9% on Stars, 95.6% on Euro and 86.8% on TON. Those figures cover all niches and all countries, not India alone.
Getting Started with Telegram Ads in India
Recommended account: Euro — a World account whose campaigns target India by country and language. It takes a destination inside Telegram — a channel, a bot or a Mini App — as well as an external website, in-stream video or a custom button, and a declined ad is escalated to a human through Adsly. TON accounts have targeted India by country since 22 August 2026 too, but link to Telegram destinations only.
Budget: The minimum ad budget for an account opened through Adsly is €500 (€1,000 for crypto and for stocks/investing). At the €0.25 CPM measured on our Euro accounts, €500 buys roughly 2 million impressions — enough for a real test of several channels and both languages.
What comes with an Adsly account: access to the account itself on ads.telegram.org and to the Pro Panel at app.adsly.pro — bulk operations for scaling across Hindi and English campaigns, automation rules, AI text generation in multiple languages, and hourly analytics. We have no hour-of-day data for India to hand you, so use the hourly report on your own campaigns to find your hours.
Agency Retainer vs Your Own Euro Account: What Indian Advertisers Should Check
A low monthly retainer from a local agency and the cost of running Telegram Ads are two different lines, and a quote usually shows only the first one.
What a management retainer covers: people who create and pause campaigns, adjust targeting and send reports. It does not cover the ad budget — €500 minimum on a Euro account — or the commission charged on every top-up; you pay both on top of the retainer. Before signing, ask three things: whose name the account is in, whether you get a login to it, and what you pay beyond the monthly fee.
What an Adsly Euro account includes: your own account, opened in 2 business days on our EU entity with no KYC and no documents. The ad budget you pay goes to the account balance, not to us. You get access to the account on ads.telegram.org and to the Pro Panel, free for the life of the account: bulk editing, automation rules, hourly analytics and AI text generation. Payment is in any cryptocurrency.
If you want it run for you: our managed service costs $1,000 per month plus 10% of ad spend (20% in high-risk niches). It is a separate service — the account and the Pro Panel do not require it.
Why access matters: Euro accounts are not self-serve; they are opened through partners that work with Telegram, and Adsly is one of them. If a reseller sits between you and the account, make sure you still see the real balance, spend and statistics yourself rather than a weekly spreadsheet.
Once you run more than a handful of campaigns across Hindi and English channels, manual work becomes the bottleneck — and that is an argument for tooling, whoever manages the account.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many Telegram users are in India?
Telegram publishes no country figures. The latest number from a named analytics source is data.ai’s: more than 120 million monthly active users, reported by TechCrunch in October 2022. Treat any newer “exact” figure that names no source with caution.
What is the average CPM for Telegram Ads in India?
On our Euro accounts, €0.25 per thousand impressions (1.12% CTR, €0.022 per click, 17.3M impressions, 8 accounts, as of 3 October 2026). On our TON accounts, 0.42 TON (1.77% CTR, 12.0M impressions, 14 accounts, 22 Aug – 3 Oct 2026). Both figures blend all niches; we do not publish a per-niche split, and the TON price is not converted into euros.
Which account type works best in India?
Euro. It takes Telegram destinations — channels, bots and Mini Apps — as well as an external website or in-stream video, and through Adsly it starts from a €500 ad budget (€1,000 for crypto). TON accounts also target India by country and by language since 22 August 2026, but link to Telegram destinations only.
What are the top verticals in India?
Crypto, EdTech, technology/SaaS, financial services and casual games fit the market. We publish no percentage split: our India base is too thin to separate niches, and no reliable public breakdown exists.
Can I target Hindi-speaking audiences?
Yes — Hindi is available in language targeting on Euro accounts and, since 22 August 2026, on TON and Stars accounts as well. You can also target Hindi-language channels directly. Many Indian Telegram channels use bilingual English+Hindi content.
Can I run betting or real-money gaming ads in India?
No. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 prohibits online money games and their advertising, and Telegram’s ad guidelines prohibit gambling ads. Games without money stakes and esports are a different category; see India’s online gaming ban.
