The company has said it will start the delivery of its smartphones from April this year and aims to deliver 7.35 crore phones by the end of 2016.

According to Ringing Bells, it received 3.7 crore bookings on February 18 the day it was launched and 2.8 crore on the second day. On Saturday, the company received 85 lakh bookings after which it was suspended.

Even on Saturday, many smartphone buyers gathered outside the company’s office after they failed to place an order online. “Why did the website not run smoothly since the bookings opened? I could not book a phone so far,” Vipin Chauhan, a prospective buyer, said.

The smartphone’s website has been plagued with problems since the first day the bookings were launch and the company has been under constant criticism from various quarters.

A three-member investigation team from the income-tax department on Friday had questioned employees of the company at its Sector 63 office. The visit by I-T department officials came after Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) lawmaker Kirit Somaiya accused the company of being a ‘ponzi bogus company scam’.

The BJP MP said he has approached the telecom ministry, telecom regulator, consumer ministry, market regulator Sebi, corporate ministry, finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India to check various concerns he has over the company offering mobile phone for Rs 251.

Somaiya has even written to the Uttar Pradesh government to inquire into the matter.

“I have explained every detail to the income tax department and they are satisfied that I am doing everything for the benefit of my customers. My aim is to provide smartphones to poor. Indian has 30% smartphone users out of total consumers. I want the remaining 70% consumers, who are using only feature phone, get access to a cheap smartphone,” Goel said.

“I kept the price at Rs. 251 because it is considered as auspicious in our society. This smartphone will cost me Rs 220 honestly. The market cost of this phone is Rs 1719. But I am not working for profit earning. I want to contribute to ‘Digital India’ by giving a smartphone to everyone, who has Rs 251 in his pocket be it labourer or a farmer,” said Goel.

Indian Cellular Association has also written to the Union telecom ministry urging it to look into the issue as selling a smartphone this cheap is impossible.

“Those who are criticising my project are unaware of my planning. We have a team of 50 people who have worked on this project for the last 8 months before announcing the launch,” Goel, who is hopeful of earning a 10% margin after delivering the smartphones, said.

Goel also refused charges that he will import cheap phones from China to deliver on his promises.

“I have plans to set up 20 manufacturing units located in different states. Rs 251 will be 100%, including electronics to body parts, made in India. For the first time, we will manufacture phone memory in India, which is presently imported from Taiwan. It will take 1.5 months to set-up my first plant to make the smartphone. But I need support from the Indian government to allocate land for projects,” Goel said.

Goel claims that his company will create 4.5 lakh jobs at the manufacturing units that are yet to be set-up.

“BJP senior leader and Kanpur member of Parliament Murli Manohar Joshi is convinced with our project. I have sought time from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give him a detailed presentation on our project. Once he extends support, we will make it a success. I do not need subsidy or financial support, only land for plants,” Goel, who had started Ringing Bells with Rs 60 lakh capital, said.