Common Indian Acronyms and Abbreviations are listed on this page. Many abbreviations are unique to India (such as AIR for the government owned radio, or LoC for the Line of Control between India and Pakistan, which is really the practical international border); others such at PTO for Please Turn (the page) Over. For words and terms unique to Indian English, consult our Indian-English Dictionary.
• +91 – Dialing Code for making international telephone calls to India
• AAI – Airport Authority of India
• ABCDEFGHIJ – American Born Confused Desi Emigrated From Gujarat, House In Jersey
• AGP – Asom Gana Parishad, regional party in Assam
• AI – Air India, a PSU
• AIADMK – All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a regional political party based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu; created by a split of the DMK
• AIR – All India Radio, state owned radio stations
• AP – Andhra Pradesh; Arunachal Pradesh
• ASLV – Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle
• BCCI – Board of Cricket Control in India
• BG – Broad Gauge (trains or tracks (5ft. 6in. – the broadest in the world)
• BJP – Bharatiya Janata Party, national political party, rightwing, pro-Hindu
• BSP – Bahujan Samaj Party, political party, promotes lower caste interests
• CBI – Central Bureau of Investigation (like American FBI)
• CBSE – Central Board of Secondary Education
• Chi. Chiranjeevi, the title/salutation for a bridegroom
• CII – Confederation fo Indian Industry
• CM – Chief Minister (like American Governor
• CPI – Communist Party of India (historically aligned to Russian party)
• CPI (M) – Communist Party of India (Marxist), historically aligned to Chinese party
• CPI (ML) – Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
• CPWD – Central Public Works Department; PWD of the GOI
• DA – Dearness Allowance, paid to compensate for inflation
• DD – Doordarshan, state-owned television channel
• DMK – Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the original regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu; later a split in the party, created the AIADMK
• DoT – Department of Telecommunications
• DRDO – Defence Research and Development Organisation
• EMU – Electric Multiple Unit
• FC – Forward Caste
• FM – Finance Minister
• GoI – Government of India
• GSLV – Geostationary Launch Vehicle
• HC – High Court (the highest provincial court, but lower than the federal Supreme Court)
• HP – Himachal Pradesh
• IAF – Indian Air Force
• IGNOU – Indira Gandhi National Open University
• IIM – Indian Institute of Management
• IIT – Indian Institute of Technology
• IMD – India Meteorological Department
• IN – Two letter official abbreviation for India used by ISO, also used as suffix for India domains on worldwide web such as www.ibm.in or www.google.co.in
• IND – Three letter official abbreviation for India, used by ISO; often used on automobiles transported internationally
• INSAT – Indian National Satellite
• IPKF – Indian Peace Keeping Force, postioned in a foreign country such as Sri Lanka
• IRS – Indian Remote Sensing Satellite
• ISI – Formerly Indian Standards Institute, renamed Bureau of Indian Standards,
• ISRO – Indian Space Research Organisation
• LoC – Line of Control (between Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and Indian-controlled state of Jammu & Kashmir, formerly called the Cease-Fire Line
• LS – Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament)
• LTTE – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
• m-cap – (stock) market capitalisation
• MDMK – Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
• MEA – Ministry of External Affairs
• MG – Meter Gauge (trains or tracks), being phased out
• MP – Madhya Pradesh
• NDA – National Democratic Alliance
• NIC : National Informatics Centre
• NRI – Non-Resident Indian
• NSC – National Savings Certificate
• OBC – Other Backward Classes
• ONGC – Oil and Natural Gas Commission
• PAN – Permanent Account Number (like US Taxpayer Identification Number)
• PF – Provident Fund (vaguely similar to US Social Security, payable as a lump-sum)
• PIGS – Poor Indian Graduate Student
• PIL – Public Interest Litigation (brought before a High Court, by a friend of the court)
• PMK – Pattali Munnetra Kazhagam
• PQWL – Pooled Quota Wait List, Indian Railways Acronym
• PSLV – Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
• PSU – Public Sector Unit (a company whose stock is owned largely by the government)
• PTI – Press Trust of India, a news agency
• PWD – Public Works Department (state civil engineering group handling roads, bridges)
• RAC – Reservation Against Cancellation, Indian Railways Acronym
• RAW – Research & Analysis Wing (similar to US CIA)
• REGRET/WL1 – No More Booking Permitted, Indian Railways Acronym
• RLWL- Remote Location Wait List, Indian Railways Acronym
• RNRI : Returned Non Resident Indian, An NRI who has moved to his home country
• RS – Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian Parliament
• RSS – Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
• SAARC – South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (seven countries of South Asia)
• SAIL – Steel Authority of India, a public sector undertaking (PSU)
• SC – Supreme Court, the highest court in the country (higher than High Courts)
• SC/ST – Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Harijans or Dalits)
• SEBI – Securities Exchange Board of India
• Sensex – Sensitive Index (of the Bombay Stock Exchange), like Dow Jones average
• SP – Samajwadi Party; Samata Party
• ST – Scheduled Tribes
• TN – Tamil Nadu
• ULFA – United Liberation Front of Asom
• UP – Uttar Pradesh
• VHP – Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a fundamentalist Hindu party, right of BJP
• WB – West Bengal