INDIA

Private/Passenger

Plate History
    British India
    French India (No Pictures Available)
    Portuguese India (Goa)
    Historical Sikkim
    1947 Series - 1989 Series

Non-Passenger/Other
    Commercial
    Dealer
    Diplomatic Corps
    Government
    Military
    Motorcycle
    Taxi
    Temporary
    Taxi
    United Nations
    United States Forces
    Unofficial Plates

Country Information
Credits

Private/Passenger

Privatel/Passenger

2009 Plates continue the 1989 series but are now black on white and are are officially issued. Previous registrations are still valid.

Plate History

1947 Series - 1989 Series
All plates since 1902 were owner provided and there is a very wide variety of styles and designs, many of which are not legal. All plates are supposed to be in Western script although other scripts may be seen as well.
See Unofficial Plates below.

Non-Passenger/Other

Commercial

Dealer

Diplomatic Corps

Government

Military

Motorcycle

Taxi

Temporary

United Nations

Click here to go to the United Nations page.

United States Forces

Unofficial Plates

British India

Private/Passenger

Princely States/Other

In the early 1900's - 1939, the Indian Empire comprised today's Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), India, Pakistan and Southern Yemen (Aden).
In 1937, Aden and Burma were detached from the Indian Empire but remained under British jurisdiction.
In 1947, Sindh (Karachi), West Punjab, Baluchistan and the North West Frontier Province became West Pakistan (today's Pakistan), and East Bengal became East Pakistan (today's Bangladesh).
Between the early 1900's and 1972, India had about 600 Princely States with distinct license plates (usually white on red) for their rulers and many continue to exist for up to 25 years after independence.

Portuguese India (Goa)

Portuguese Goa was annexed in the 15th century by Portuguese merchants and thus became a colony of Portugal for about 450 years.
It was annexed by India in 1961. This annexation was not recognized by Portugal until 1973.
Today, Goa is the fourth smallest state of India.

Historical Sikkim

Sikkim was incorporated as an Indian state in 1975. The region retained differences with regard to license plate color until 1989.

Country Information

Location South Asia
Capital New Delhi
Main Religions Hinduism, islam (sunni)
Main Languages Hindi, English. The other official languages are Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit.
Kashmir Controlled partially by India, Pakistan and China.
International Oval IND
ISO Code IN

Credits

(1) Jim Fox/Greg Gibson
(2) Dick Parker

Location	South Asia
Capital	New Delhi
Main Religions	Hinduism, islam (sunni)
Main Languages	Hindi, English. The other official languages are Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit.
Kashmir	Controlled partially by India, Pakistan and China.
International Oval	IND
ISO Code	IN