state-owned service provider; in recent years significant trunkcapacity added in the form of fiber-optic cable and one of the
world's largest domestic satellite systems, the Indian National
Satellite system (INSAT), with five satellites supporting 33,000
very small aperture terminals (VSAT)
international: country code - 91; satellite earth stations - 8
Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); nine
gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata
(Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar,
Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 5 submarine cables, including Sea-Me-We-3
with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai (Bombay), Fiber-Optic Link
Around the Globe (FLAG) with landing site at Mumbai (Bombay), South
Africa - Far East (SAFE) with landing site at Cochin, i2icn linking
to Singapore with landing sites at Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai
(Madras), and Tata Indicom linking Singapore and Chennai (Madras),
provide a significant increase in the bandwidth available for both
voice and data traffic (2004)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998)
Radios:
116 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997)
Televisions:
63 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.in
Internet hosts:
86,871 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
43 (2000)
Internet users:
18.481 million (2003)
Transportation India
Railways:
total: 63,230 km (16,693 km electrified)
broad gauge: 45,718 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 14,406 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,106 km 0.762-m gauge and
0.610-m gauge (2004)
Highways:
total: 2,525,989 km
paved: 1,448,655 km
unpaved: 1,077,334 km (1999)
Waterways:
14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for
mechanized vessels (2004)
Pipelines:
gas 6,171 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,195 km; oil 5,613 km; refined
products 5,567 km (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta),
Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam
Merchant marine:
total: 299 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,555,507 GRT/11,069,791 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 85, cargo 75, chemical tanker 13, combination
ore/oil 1, container 7, liquefied gas 14, passenger 3,
passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 91, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 10 (Australia 1, China 1, Greece 1, UAE 6, United
Kingdom 1)
registered in other countries: 30 (2005)
Airports:
333 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 234 over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 47 1,524 to 2,437 m: 78 914 to 1,523 m: 74 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 99 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 42 under 914 m: 45 (2004 est.)
Heliports: 20 (2004 est.)
Military India
Military branches:
Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force, Coast Guard,
various security or paramilitary forces (includes Border Security
Force, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border
Police, Special Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police Force,
Central Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force, and
Defense Security Corps)
Military service age and obligation:
16 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 287,551,111 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 219,471,999 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 11,446,452 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$18.86 billion (2005)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.93% (2005/06)
Transnational Issues India
Disputes - international:
China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in
2005, consolidating discussions related to the dispute over most of
their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation,
