Arriving in India
Travel
India information for visitors arriving at Indian airports from abroad.
How to clear customs, pre-paid taxi service as well as smart safety tips
and travel advice for touring India.
The majority of foreign tourists arrive in India by air.
English is spoken by almost all government officials present at Indian airports.
If you speak the English language, then you should have no communication problems at the airport. All passengers arriving from abroad are required to fill in an 'Arrival Card' for immigration/customs clearance. When departing from India a 'Departure Card' has to be filled. Samples of these cards are provided at the bottom of this page.
Before you leave the immigration counter, when the
immigration officer returns your passport to you after examining it.
Make sure that the immigration officer has stamped your passport with an
arrival stamp. To avoid problems later when you
are leaving India, ensure that your passports are duly stamped before
leaving the immigration counter.
I have found that India is one country, where they sometimes x-ray luggage of arriving passengers. If this happens to you, do not be alarmed.
Luggage carts are available at the airport free of charge. On some occasions there are no carts available due to the volume of passengers in the terminal. However if you wait for a short time, carts are periodically brought in from outside.
I have heard of some people trying to offer carts to tourists for a tip. Carts are provided free by the airport authority of India and there is no need to pay someone for getting you a cart. Infact some workers are actually hired by the authorities to help passengers who may need assistance removing their luggage from conveyor belts and loading their luggage on the carts.
Currency exchange counters are available at the airports. If you wish to exchange currency at the airport. Do not go past customs, as currency exchange counters of a few banks are located inside the terminal and once you go past customs, you cannot go back to the currency exchange counters.
When exchanging foreign currency for Indian Rupees keep the exchange receipt as this will help you to reconvert unspent Indian Rupees back to your original currency when you leave India. Always get a receipt when converting foreign currency.
In case you have to make train reservations for
travel within India. There is a counter available that helps foreigners
with railway bookings. Please check our
train reservations page for more details on this.
ARRIVING IN INDIA BY AIR
The most popular arrival points in India from abroad are New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai (formerly called Madras) or Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta).
The airport in New Delhi is called Indira Gandhi International Airport while the Mumbai international airport is named the Sahar International Airport. The Kolkata airport is called the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport.
RED & GREEN EXITS FROM AIRPORT
When exiting the international airports in India after clearing the immigration counters. Indian international airports have two exits known as the RED and GREEN sides. The Red route is used if the passenger has dutiable items to declare at customs, where as the Green route is to be used if the passenger has no items that would require customs duty is to be paid.
In case you find your self in a situation where something you brought along for your own use and are asked to pay customs duty on the item. Then you may advise the customs officer that the item will leave with you when you depart In such cases the normal procedure is for the customs officer to make an entry on your passport to insure that the item is taken back when you leave. This way you need not pay duty on goods that you have taken for your own use.
Before leaving the airport it is advisable to inspect your checked in luggage for visible damage that may have occurred. If this is the case then report the damage before you leave the airport. The airline is responsible for damage en route but you should report damages before leaving the airport.
TAXI FROM AIRPORTS
On arrival do not go out of the airport and hire a taxi. Go to the prepaid taxi booth at the airport.
After arriving at the Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi. As soon as you go out from the airport (gate number 2) you will see the PRE PAID TAXI sign with an arrow pointing to the pre-paid taxi office.
As you walk out of the terminal, the left side takes
you out of the airport while on the right side is the prepaid taxi
booth.
Here travelers can pay the taxi fare to their destination according to a preset government approved fare chart. Travelers are issued a taxi voucher to their destination and on reaching their destination they hand over the voucher to the taxi driver.
When taking a prepaid taxi from the airport there is also a paper trail of where the taxi driver is taking the passenger and this information is recorded by the police as the taxi leaves the airport.
This is a safety measure for passengers traveling by prepaid taxis.
Having paid the fare at the airport also ensures that there is no haggling over the price with the taxi driver and not having to convert currency when you reach your destination.
HOTEL PRIVATE CAR PICKUP
The better class hotels provide airport pickup as an option when making reservations. The charge for hotel pick up is usually 500 to 600 Rupees depending on the car used. This charge includes a 4 hour wait at the airport for the passenger. Incase more time is required due to late arrivals etc there is an additional per hour charge of approximately Rupees 100 per hour.
Having a hotel car pick you up is the best and safest option as from experience I have found that most international flights arrive in India late at night.
TAXI AND AUTO RICKSHAW FARES IN DELHI
Please use the calculators provided below to get an idea of
taxi and auto rickshaw fares in Delhi.
Taxi Fare Calculator for Delhi. Auto Rickshaw Calculator for Delhi.
ARRIVAL CARD FILLED BY
ARRIVING PASSENGERS
ARRIVAL CARD
All passengers arriving from abroad are required to fill in the arrival card for clearing immigration.
The top part of the form is retained by the immigration dept.
The bottom part is handed over to the passenger to give to the customs representative when exiting the airport.
DEPARTURE CARD FILLED BY PASSENGERS WHEN DEPARTING INDIA
DEPARTURE CARD
Filled when leaving India by all passengers.
