The Nokia Lumia 520 is now available for purchase in India.

The India Lumia 520 has a price of Rs10,499 and is available in major retail stores in the country, including Saholic and Snapdeal. The launch of the Lumia 520 in India was announced on March 20 and the device started going on sale on April 6. It was initially unveiled in February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The Lumia 520 is a hallmark of Nokia's strategy to make affordable Windows 8 devices. The first such attempt came with the Lumia 620, which fared well in Asian markets.

For those unfamiliar with the Lumia 520's specifications, the device is not too dissimilar from the Lumia 620. The main difference comes in screen size, with the Lumia 520 sporting a 4-inch WVGA IPS display at 800 x 480p, compared with the 620's 3.8-inch display and same resolution (and therefore slightly superior ppi).

The Lumia 520 has a stronger battery than the Lumia 620, but both devices have a 1GHz dual core processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB internal storage. Given the Lumia 520's advantage in screen size and battery life, if it pushes out the Lumia 620 in market share that would not come as a surprise, especially given its lower price point.

The Lumia 520 became available for pre-order in India toward the end of March through online retailer Flipkart. The retailer offered the device in yellow, red, cyan, black and white colors. Those who made their pre-order purchase before April 7 were able to choose from three- or six-month installment plans.