Airtel and Vodafone have official rights to sell Apple iPhone mobile devices in India. Last year, they have sold many iPhone devices which were allowed to use with only one carrier i.e. Airtel or Vodafone. Apple does not allow unlocking of iPhone, but now the Air Tel services in India allow you to unlock an iPhone and the iPhone after being unlocked properly will run on Hutch, Air Tel, Idea etc. 
I have gathered this information from the Air Tel web site (it displays the authorized unlocking of iPhone devices with Air Tel carrier) which authorizes you to unlock an Air Tel iPhone. It takes not more than 10minutes to get it activated and you can unlock it yourself for free. The screenshot of authorized unlocking from Apple’s website confirmed this facility. This program will verify that you have an account with the carrier and then give you instructions on how to activate your iPhone (insert a valid, active SIM and connect to iTunes). You can get information about iPhone 3G wireless carriers worldwide by selecting your country. Please make sure to check the email address that you have provided during “Activating your iPhone” in iTunes.
Before activating
- Check Voicemail
Before you activate your original iPhone, make sure you listen to your current voicemails. If you are transferring an existing number from another wireless operator, existing voice mails will not be transferred to the Air Tel network.
- About SIM cards
If you already have a SIM card note that not all SIM cards work with iPhone. You must use the SIM card included with your original iPhone for best results,
Important: Your iPhone can receive calls in as little as 15 minutes after activation. If you are migrating your current phone number, it can take longer too, may be up to several days, depending on the type and status of your former service account before calls are routed to iPhone. During the activation period you can make calls and use iPhone’s other features.
This facility of unlocking an air Tel iPhone may seem to work fine for some people and many may have complains about it; from a small error to some permanent unlock disabilities. It won’t affect your iPhone as it would be as it was before.
Here is the screenshot that gives the authorised carriers to unlock iphone.
where is the program?
did you speak to any airtel officials for confirmation?
list of carrier and countries were ther for very long time.. nothing newin it.