An Indian company, Ringing Bells, is due to launch the world's cheapest smartphone on 17th February 2016.

Initially, Ringing Bells said that their 'Freedom 251' phone would be priced under 500 rupees (SGD$10.28; US$7.30), but we can now confirm that it will be priced at nearly half of the price, at 251 rupees! (SGD$5.16; US$3.67).

The website lists specifications of the Freedom 251: A 4-inch display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage (which is expandable up to 32GB!), 3.2-megapixel back camera, 0.3-megapixel front camera as well as a 1450mAh battery.

India is the world's second-largest mobile market and has one billion mobile phone subscribers. Freedom 251 is expected to target a market already dominated by low-cost handsets.

The Freedom 251 will be officially unveiled in New Delhi, the capital of India, on Wednesday evening.

At present, the firm imports parts from overseas and assembles them in India, but has made plans to make its phones domestically within a year.

Ringing Bells was set up a few months ago and recently launched one of India's cheapest 4G smartphones at 2,999 rupees (SGD$61.69; US$43.78).