India, Nov. 25 -- Karnataka and Telangana have emerged as the top-performing states in recovery of lost phones, each crossing 1 lakh recoveries, as per data from the Sanchar Saathi portal. The portal is an initiative by the department of telecommunications (DoT) which allows reporting and blocking of lost mobile phones, along with providing latest updates and awareness material for citizens. Maharashtra was a close third with over 85,000 phones recovered.

For the first time, phone recoveries through the portal crossed 50,000 in a single month in October 2025, the DoT said in a press release on Tuesday. A DoT official said with approximately 50,000 handsets stolen in India every month and now an equal amount being recovered, "we have esse...