{ { Infobox Identity document
|document_name = Indian Passport
|image = Indian Passport.svg
|image_caption = The front cover of a Indian passport (2021). | date_first_issued = 1920 (first version) 2021 (latest version Biometric Machine Readable Passport) |image 2 = File:Indian Passport information page blank new.jpg 2023 (tentative; e-Passport) |using_jurisdiction = Ministry of External Affairs |document_type = Passport |purpose = Identification |eligibility = Indian citizenship |expiration = 10 years (Adult) 5 or 10 years (age 15 to 18) 5 years (Minor) |cost =Adult (36 pages): ₹1,500Adult (60 pages): ₹2,000Minor (36 pages): ₹1,000 Note: If the application for renewal of passport is made under the Tatkaal (expedited processing), the additional Tatkaal fee of ₹2,000 is to be paid in addition to the regular application fee. }}
An Indian passport is a passport issued by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India 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 issuing authority and is responsible for issuing Indian passports on application 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, ranking third only after China and the United States of America. Approximately 65 million Indians held valid passports .
As of 12 December 2022, only 7.2 percent (approximately 96 million) of Indian citizens possessed a valid passport, with Kerala having the highest number of passport holders of all Indian states. Previously, passports were not popular among the masses due to a time consuming and complicated process and limited access to the passport facilitation centres located only in major cities. With the expansion of centres and technological improvements, accompanied by increased outsourcing of professionals and an expanding middle-class, the percentage is expected to go up.
History
Indian Empire
British Indian passports were issued to British subjects of the 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 Dominion of India and Dominion of 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. Initially, Indian passports were granted only to "respectable" people. A literacy test was required, and passports were denied to Communist Party of India members. Only in 1967 did the Supreme Court rule that every citizen had the right to a passport.