Well, that should put the cat amongst the pigeons.

Clearly, a price sensitive region is going to pick up on this, and it should make a difference, I would have thought, and might help build momentum in the region.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With Windows Phone failing to make a significant dent in the market share of Google's Android and Apple's iOS in the last four years, Microsoft is waiving the licence fee and offering it to at least two Indian phone makers for free.
Last month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft announced that more phone makers, including two from India — Lava and Karbonn — will produce Windows Phone devices in the coming months. Both companies already make Android devices using Google's mobile OS which is free to use. Their Windows Phone devices are likely to hit the market in the next few months.
Multiple industry sources with knowledge of Microsoft's negotiations with Indian phone companies told TOI that it was in talks with local firms to produce affordable Windows Phone devices since last year. But the agreements were clinched only when Microsoft agreed to remove the licence fee it charges from phone makers for its OS.Report: Microsoft Offers Windows Phone OS Free To Two Indian Phone Manufacturers [timesofindia.indiatimes.com]