Indian amateur radio operators number just 16,000 (18,000 in N.C.) for a population of 1.2 billion, or less than 0.002 percent of the population. Factors for the low numbers include low awareness, high equipment cost, and bureaucratic procedures in obtaining a licence where obtaining a licence can take over a year. After decades of lobbying to include ham radio in school syllabi, efforts paid off in 2006 after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) included ham radio in the chapter of Emergency communications on the subject of Disaster Management.The CBSE is one of the two national education boards. The President of India APJ Abdul Kalam, in a speech to the International Union of Radio Science held in New Delhi in 2005, stressed on the promotion of the hobby and setting up of ham stations in local panchayat offices, schools and hospitals. They would also act as early warning systems for the village communities in cases of emergencies.
Amateur radio clubs across the country many join the hobby by organizing courses in preparation for the Amateur Station Operator's Certificate. The government-funded NIAR is one such organization that actively promotes the hobby by holding regular classes. The Vigyan Parishad, an apex body for science popularization under the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India coordinates simulated disaster communication exercises and also organizes trainings to help people getting ham radio licenses in areas vulnerable to natural calamities. Amateur radio operators have played a significant part in disaster management and emergencies. In 1991, during the Gulf War, a lone Indian ham operator in Kuwait, provided the only means of communication between stranded Indian nationals in that country and their relatives in India. Amateur radio operators have also played a helpful part in disaster management. Shortly after the 1993 Latur and 2001 Gujarat earthquakes, the central government rushed teams of ham radio operators to the epicentre to provide vital communication links. In December 2004, a group of amateur radio operators on DX-pedition on the Andaman Islands witnessed the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. With communication lines between the islands severed, the group provided the only way of relaying live updates and messages to stations across the world.
Amateur radio licence categories in IndiaThe Indian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 lists five licence categories:
1. Advanced Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence
2. Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence, Grade–I
3. Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence, Grade–II
4. Restricted Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence
5. Short Wave Listener's Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (SWL)
To obtain a licence in the first four categories, candidates must pass the Amateur Station Operator's Certificate examination. This examination is held monthly in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), every two months in Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Hyderabad, and every four months in some smaller cities. The examination consists of two 50-mark written sections: Radio theory and practice, Regulations; and a practical test consisting of a demonstration of Morse code proficiency in both sending and receiving. After passing the examination, the candidate must then clear a police interview. After clearance, the WPC(The Wireless and Planning and Coordination Wing ) grants the licence along with the user-chosen call sign. This procedure can take up to 12 months.
In 2005, India became one of few countries to launch an amateur radio satellite, the HAMSAT. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the microsatellite as an auxiliary payload on the PSLV-6.