India - General Tour Information

INDIA GENERAL INFORMATION
Details below or click here for more information INQUIRY FORM
Phone: 1-888-682-6449/1-303-670-5640
Fax: (425) 984-7676

INDIA - POPULATION

There are 835 million Indians today, and the number is growing by 15 million every year… which translates into as Australia being added to the population every year. Out of this 835 million, over 210 million Indians are urbanites - which is greater than the combined population of France, UK and Germany. The country not only has the second largest English speaking manpower resource in the world, its 305 million strong scientific and technical manpower pool is the fifth largest in the world … making it easily a national power to reckon with. Add to this also the fact that India has the fourth largest pool of doctors in the world… a figure that is growing further rapidly.
CLIMATE India basically has tropical climate three main seasons:
Summer season: April to June
Monsoon season: July to September
Winter season: October to March LANGUAGE English is commonly used in all business transactions. India has the second largest English speaking base in the world. However, the main spoken language is Hindi.

CURRENCY

The Currency of India is the Rupee, which has 100 paise to it, the Rupee comes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 100, and 500. The conversion rate at present (April-2000) is 1 USD= Rs. 43.00

CUSTOMS AND VISA FORMALITIES

Foreigners desirous of visiting India can do so after obtaining a visa from the Indian Mission in their country. They should posses a valid National Passport, except in the case of nationals of Bhutan and Nepal, who may carry only suitable means of identification. There are two channels for customs clearance - the Green Channel for passengers without any dutiable articles and the Red Channel for the passengers with dutiable items or high value articles. For more information contact the nearest Government of India Tourism Office or the India Mission.

DOMESTIC TRANSPORTATION

India has two domestic airlines - Indian Airlines and Vayudoot who between them service all important towns and cities. Indian airlines has been ranked as the world’s second largest domestic IATA airline outside USA and has a large and modern fleet of A300, A320 and B737 aircraft. The Indian Railway Network not only connects the entire country literally but is also the second largest in the world, used evade by more than 11 million people. Apart from these, India offers the complete range of transportation means. Air-conditioned luxury coaches, taxis, limousine service as well as rent-a car service by major international companies are all available. India has a fine network of metallic roads which connect all important cities. Next to railways, motor transport is the chief mode of travel.

CREDIT CARDS

Almost all the world’s top credit cards have tie-ups with Indian counterparts, the commonly accepted international credit cards are: VISA, AMERICAN EXPRESS, MASTER CARD, ETC.

BUSINESS HOURS

The normal business hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. Saturday and Sunday are weekly off days for all business establishments and government offices.

INDIAN STANDARD TIME (ISI)

IST is 5 ½ hours ahead of GMT.

ELECTRICITY

All domestic usage points receive 220V, 50 cycles.

TV SYSTEM

The system used for TV is PAL.