Originally Posted by
Bandicoot
Note - in many cases, even if you have nothing to declare, your baggage may undergo screening as you exit. The hand bags can be scanned right after you pass through immigration (e.g., at Bangalore), and any or all of your bags can be scanned again after baggage claim randomly as you exit after baggage reclaim (common at Mumbai, sometimes happens at Bangalore and elsewhere).
chennai is the one place where all hand bags are scanned before you reach baggage claim....delhi has no scans for hand baggage....with all the other airport they scan them sometimes....
Originally Posted by
Bandicoot
Regarding currency, in my experience (more than a dozen trips to India in the last couple of years) they don't actually bother to search - so if you inadvertently had, e.g., INR 30,000 on you, it's not very likely that you'll get into trouble for it. But they do seem to profile and search *some* travelers based on some heuristics or intelligence about them, because the newspapers always have reports of someone or the other caught flying in or out with large amounts of cash in various currencies.
you are right, they are unlikely to check unless you are chosen for a random screening & even then they simply scan your bags to see what you are carrying....i have never heard of anyone being stopped for carrying inr into the country....that being said, its always a good idea to stick to the inr 25k limit & just exchange currency here....