Making international phone calls to India can be a daunting experience at first. However, the process itself is quite easy as long as you know the exit code (a code that tells the telephone service that you are going to call abroad) in your country, the country code of India, the area code where the contact you wish to call is based, and the telephone number of the destination. Here's how to do it.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Basic Phone Number Structure
Step 1. Press the exit code that is valid in your country
Before you make an international call, you need to dial a code number that tells the telephone operator service that the phone number you are dialing next is the phone number of someone who is in another country.
- For example, the exit code in the United States is “011.” People making phone calls to India from the United States need to dial “011” before dialing the destination phone number.
- Example: 011-xx-xx-xxxx-xxxx
Step 2. Dial the number "91," the country code of India
Each country has an international code that will tell all telephone services that an international call must be made to a specific country. Each country has its own country code, and the country code for India is “91.”
Example: 011-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx
Step 3. Dial the area code to which you want to go
The area code for landlines in India varies from region to region, and has between two and four digit numbers. Area codes for cell phones in India almost usually start with the digits “9” or “09,” but can also begin with the digits “7” or “8.”
- The only way to know for sure the area code of a mobile phone in India is to know it as part of the designated phone number.
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You can find out the area code of a landline in India, simply by knowing the area of the designated phone number.
- Agra: 562
- Ahmadabad: 79
- Aligarh: 571
- Allahabad: 532
- Amravati: 721
- Amritsar: 183
- Asansol: 341
- Aurangabad: 240
- Bangalore: 80
- Bareilly: 581
- Belgaum: 831
- Bhavnagar: 278
- Bhilai: 788
- Bhiwandi: 2522
- Bhopal: 755
- Bhubaneswar: 674
- Bikaner: 151
- Calcutta: 33
- Calicut: 495
- Chandigarh: 172
- Coimbatore: 422
- Cuttack: 671
- Dehradun: 135
- Delhi: 11
- Dhanbad: 326
- Faizabad: 5278
- Faridabad: 129
- Ghaziabad: 120
- Gorakhpur: 551
- Thunder: 863
- Gurgaon: 124
- Guwahati: 361
- Gwalior: 751
- Hubli-Dharwad: 836
- Hyderabad: 040
- Indore: 731
- Jabalpur: 761
- Jaipur: 141
- Jalandhar: 181
- Jammu: 191
- Kannur: 497
- Jamshedpur: 657
- Jodhpur: 291
- Kanpur: 512
- Kochi: 484
- Kollam (Quilon): 474
- City: 744
- Lucknow: 522
- Ludhiana: 161
- Madurai: 452
- Malappuram: 483
- Mangalore: 824
- Meerut: 121
- Moradabad: 591
- Mysore: 821
- Mumbai: 22
- Nagpur: 712
- Nasik: 253
- Noida: 120
- Patna: 612
- Puducherry: 413
- Pune: 20
- Raipur: 771
- Rajkot: 281
- Ranchi: 651
- Saharanpur: 132
- Salem: 427
- Siliguri: 353
- Solapur: 217
- Srinagar: 194
- Letter: 261
- Thrissur: 487
- Tiruchirappalli (Trichy): 431
- Tiruppur: 421
- Trivandrum: 471
- Vadodara: 265
- Variation: 542
- Vasai-Virar: 250
- Vijayawada: 866
- Visakhapatnam: 891
- Wargal: 870
Step 4. Complete the destination phone number
You need the destination phone number to complete the phone number and make calls.
- The phone number in its entirety will have a ten-digit number. This series of numbers does not include your country exit code or India country code.
- Landline numbers in India can have six to eight digit numbers.
- Example: 011-91-11-xxxx-xxxx (phone calls from the United States to India, specifically to landlines in Delhi)
- Example: 011-91-421-xxx-xxxx (phone calls from the United States to India, specifically to a landline in Tiruppur)
- Example: 011-91-2522-xx-xxxx (phone calls from the United States to India, specifically to the landline in Bhiwandi)
- When calling a mobile phone number in India, the phone number usually has a nine-digit number.
- Example: 011-91-9-xxxx-xxxxx (a phone call from the United States to a mobile phone number in India)
- Note that mobile phone numbers starting with “09” will have an eleven digit number.
- Example: 011-91-09-xxxx-xxxxx (a phone call from the United States to a mobile phone number in India)
Part 2 of 2: Making a Call from a Specific Country
Step 1. Make a call to India from the United States or Canada
The exit code for countries to the United States or Canada is “011.” When making a phone call to India from the United States or Canada, the phone number must follow the following format: 011-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx
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Other countries that use the number “011” as an exit code and follow the same format include:
- American Samoa
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Grenada
- Thrush
- Jamaica
- Marshall Islands
- Montserrat
- Puerto Rico
- Trinidad and Tobago
- United States Virgin Islands
Step 2. Most other countries make calls starting with "00"
Many countries use “00” as the exit code. If your country uses this code, the format for making calls to India is 00-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx.
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Countries that use "00" as an exit code include:
- great Britain
- Mexico
- German
- French
- Italy
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Dubai
- south Africa
- People's Republic of China
- New Zealand
- Philippines
- Malaysia
- Pakistan
- Ireland
- Romania
- Albania
- Algeria
- Aruba
- Bangladesh
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Bosnia
- Central Africa
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Greece
- Greenland
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Iceland
- Dutch
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Turkey
- Argentina
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Ecuador
Step 3. Dial "0011" to make a call to India from Australia
The exit code for Australia is “0011,” so the format for international calls to India from Australia is 0011-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx.
Note that Australia is the only country that has this exit code
Step 4. Use "001" or "002" to make calls from various countries in Asia
If you want to make a call from a country that has an exit code of “001”, the telephone number format used is 001-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx. Likewise, if you make a call from a country with the exit code “002,” then the format is 002-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx.
- Countries with exit code "001" include Cambodia, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.
- Countries with exit code "002" include Taiwan and South Korea.
- Note that South Korea uses both "001" and "002" exit codes.
Step 5. If you live in Indonesia, follow the instructions in this step
The exit code used in Indonesia varies, depending on the service of the telephone operator you use.
- For Indosat users, the exit code can be "001" or "008." The correct format for making calls to India is 001-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx or 008-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx.
- For Telkom users, the exit code used is "007," so the correct format for calls to India is 007-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx.
- For Bakrie Telecom users, the exit code used is "009," so the format for calls to India is 009-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx.
Step 6. If you live in Japan, follow the instructions in this step
Japan uses the exit code "010." The basic format for making calls to India from Japan is 010-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx.
Japan is the only country that has this exit code
Step 7. If you live in Israel, follow the instructions in this step
The exit code used in Israel depends on the service of the telephone operator you use. The common format for making calls to India from Israel is Y-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx. "Y" is the exit code used.
The valid exit code for Gisha code users is "00," Smile Tikshoret "012," NetVision "013, "Bezeq "014, " and for Xfone users the exit code used is "018."
Step 8. If you live in Brazil, follow the instructions in this step
Brazil still follows the basic Y-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx format for making phone calls to India, where "Y" represents the exit code valid in Brazil. Exit codes in Brazil vary depending on the service of each telephone operator.
Brazilian Telecom users should dial "0014, " Telefonica "0015," Embratel "0021," Intelig "0023," and Telmar users should dial "0031."
Step 9. If you live in Chile, follow the instructions in this step
Follow the same format for making phone calls to India, namely Y-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx, with “Y” as the exit code in Chile. Please note that the exit code used varies according to the service of each telephone operator.
Entel users should press "1230, " Globus "1200," Manquehue "1220," Movistar "1810," Netline "1690," and Telmex users should press "1710."
Step 10. If you live in Colombia, follow the instructions in this step
Follow the same format as Y-91-xx-xxxx-xxxx to make phone calls to India, where “Y” represents the exit code valid in Colombia. Please note that the exact exit code varies according to the service of each telephone operator.
UNE EPM users should press "005," ETB "007," Movistar "009," Tigo "00414, " Avantel "00468," Claro Fixed "00456," and Claro Mobile users should press "00444."
Tips
- If you plan to make calls to India from a landline or mobile phone, make sure that you have an international calling service before calling. Otherwise, the calling costs will be very unreasonable.
- Alternatively, you can also purchase an international phone card to use whenever you want to make a phone call to India. Dial the access number from the phone card, then dial the destination phone number in India in the appropriate format.
