Indian passport

An Indian passport is issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to Indian citizens for the purpose of international travel. It enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as proof of Indian citizenship as per the Passports Act (1967). The Passport Seva (Passport Service) unit of the Consular, Passport & Visa (CPV) Division of the Ministry of External Affairs functions as the central passport organisation, and is responsible for issuing Indian passports on demand to all eligible Indian citizens. Indian passports are issued at 93 passport offices located across India and at 197 Indian diplomatic missions abroad.
In 2015, India issued about 12 million passports, a number exceeded only by China and the United States. Approximately 65 million Indians held valid passports .
History.
British Raj.
British Indian passports were issued to British subjects of the British Indian Empire, as well as to British subjects from other parts of the British Empire, and subjects of the British protected states in India (i.e. British protected persons of the 'princely states'). These passports were introduced in British India after the First World War. The "Indian Passport Act of 1920" required the use of passports, established controls on the foreign travel of Indians, and foreigners travelling to and within India. The passport was based on the format agreed upon by the 1920 League of Nations International Conference on Passports. However, the British Indian passport had very limited usage, being valid for travel only within the British Empire, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Holland.
Dominion of India.
The use of the passport was discontinued after the establishment of the dominions of India and Pakistan in 1947, and its bearers were entitled to opt for Indian, Pakistani or British nationality. Passport laws were made strict in both the countries in 1952. Despite Pakistan's continued aggression and infiltration, Indian government allowed visa free arrival from Pakistan until the second Kashmir War.
Types of passport.
In addition, selected passport offices in India as well as overseas missions were authorised to issue regular "India-Bangladesh Passport" to Indian nationals resident in West Bengal and the North-Eastern States and "India-Sri Lanka Passport" to Indian nationals resident in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. These two passports respectively permitted travel to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka only and were not valid for travel to other foreign countries. India stopped issuing the Indo-Bangladesh Passport in 2013.
Tatkaal and SVP.
"Tatkaal" Passports (for urgent needs), and Short Validity Passport (SVP) are also available and these are generally considered "Ordinary Passports" once issued.
Physical appearance.
Contemporary ordinary Indian passports have deep bluish cover with golden coloured printing. The Emblem of India is emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. The words "भारत गणराज्य" in Devanagari and "Republic of India" are inscribed below the Emblem whereas "पासपोर्ट" in Devanagari and "Passport" in English are inscribed above the emblem. The standard passport contains 36 pages, but frequent travellers can opt for a passport containing 60 pages. Some early passports were handwritten, including some issued between 1997 and 2000 with 20-year validity dates. These passports have been ruled invalid by the Indian government and holders must replace them with machine-readable versions good for 10 years due to ICAO regulations.
Passport note.
All passports contain a note in Hindi and English, nominally from the President of India, addressing the authorities of all countries and territories:
The note bearing page is typically stamped and signed by the issuing authority in the name of the President of the Republic of India.
Languages.
The text of Indian Passport is printed in both Hindi and English, two official languages of India.
Emigration check.
Holders of Emigration Check Required (ECR) type passports need a clearance called an Emigration Check from the Government of India's Protector of Emigrants when going to selected countries on a work visa. This is to prevent the exploitation of Indian workers (especially the unskilled and less-educated) when going abroad, particularly to Middle Eastern countries. ECR type passport holders travelling on a tourist visa do not need a clearance; this is known as an Emigration Check Suspension.
Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) status passports are granted to:
In accordance with a ruling by the Ministry of External Affairs, passports issued from 2007 onwards do not have the ECNR stamp affixed; instead, a blank page 2 of the passport is deemed to have been ECNR endorsed. As a result, only ECR stamps are now affixed to Indian passports. For passports issued before January 2007, no notation in the passport means ECR. For passports issued in or after January 2007, no notation in the passport means ECNR. If Emigration Check is Required, there will be an endorsement in the passport regarding ECR.
Features.
Since 25 November 2015, Indian passports that are handwritten or with an original date of expiry extending to 20 years have not been valid under ICAO travel regulations. With more recent Indian passports the personal particulars of the passport holder, that were hitherto printed on the inner cover page, are printed on the second page of the document. Another added security feature in the newer non-handwritten passports is a ghost picture of the holder found on the right side of the second page. Apart from stymieing criminals from printing fake passports, recent changes also help prevent smudging of the document because of inkjet printers.
Fees.
The price for a standard passport in India: 
Indian passports can also be issued outside India, for which fees varies by country.
Issuance.
Passport Seva Kendra.
In September 2007, the Indian Union Council of Ministers approved a new passport issuance system under the Passport Seva Project. As per the project, front-end activities of passport issuance, dispatch of passports, online linking with police, and Central Printing Unit for centralised printing of passports will be put in place. The new system is trying to be 'timely, transparent, more accessible and reliable manner' for passport issuance. The applicant has to apply for fresh/reissue of passport through the Passport Seva system at one of the 77 Passport offices known as "Passport Seva Kendra"s operating throughout the country.
Biometric passport.
India initiated the first phase of biometric e-passport for Diplomatic passport holders in India and abroad. The new passports have been designed locally by the Central Passport Organisation, the India Security Press and IIT Kanpur. It contains a security chip with all personal data and digital images. In the first phase new passports will have a 64KB chip carrying a photograph of the passport holder and in subsequent phases it will have a fingerprint. The new passport has already been tested with passport readers in the United States and has 4-second response time, while the US Passport has 10-second response time. It need not be carried in a metal jacket for security reasons. It will first need to be skimmed through a reader, after which it would generate an access code which then unlocks the chip for reader access.
In India, the e-passport is under its first phase of deployment and is restricted to Diplomatic passport holders. On 25 June 2008 the Indian Passport Authority issued the e-passport to the then President of India Pratibha Patil. As of 2016, the Government has plans to issue e-passports to all of its citizens. Also the Government has authorized Indian Security Press to float a global three-stage tender for procurement of ICAO-compliant electronic contactless inlays along with its operating system, which is required for the manufacture of Biometric Passports. The necessary procurement have been initiated by India Security Press, Nasik by calling for Global tender for the supply of electronic contactless inlays. The actual transition to the new age passport is expected to commence on the successful completion of the tendering and procurement process. The Biometric E-Passport work is currently in progress/pipeline and is yet to be available for Ordinary Passport holders. The availability and implementation of E-Passport is expected to be delayed by a further 1-2 years due to disruptions cause by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Passport power and visa requirements.
Visa requirements for Indian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of India.
Passport Power Ranking and visa-free travel.
, Henley Passport Index ranks Indian passport at 82nd place with visa-free or visa on arrival access to 58 nations and territories to Indian citizens. , The Passport Index ranks Indian passport 82th place on global ranking with 76 mobility ranking (based on visa-free or visa on arrival access to nations or territories). Furthermore, Indian citizens may live and work freely in Nepal under the terms of the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship.
Foreign travel statistics.
According to the statistics these are the numbers of Indian visitors to various countries in 2017 (unless otherwise noted)