US-based chipmaker Intel today said it would develop smartphones with its chips, priced Rs. 7,000 onwards, in India in partnership with handset makers.

The touch screen-based smartphones, based on Google's Android operating system, would be available in the market by the middle of 2013, Intel South Asia Managing Director, Sales and Marketing Debjani Ghosh said on the sidelines of INFOCOM 2012 here.

In India at present, Intel has a partnership with Lava. 'Lava Xolo', which features Intel's mobile chip, was launched early this year.

"The first handset with Lava that we launched was a premium one. We learnt that it was important to have a portfolio and offer choice to the user. We will not have
entry-level handsets but our smartphone range will be priced upwards of Rs. 7,000," she said.

Ghosh, however, did not divulge whether the partnerships would be with homegrown or International equipment makers.