Yes, I ran into this "Catch-22" after arriving on the Dulles flight in early February. I did have a local friend who could get the OTP for me, but the OTP they sent never reached her.

I ended up going to an Airtel brick and mortar store with a local friend and buying a "permanent" Airtel pre-paid SIM.

Also, Airtel seems to no longer accept "international" credit cards (like AMEX) for payment on pre-paid SIM cards so I am not sure how to recharge the SIM each month apart from asking a local friend to use their UPI to do so.

It's a real headache for visitors because you need a cell phone for everything there.