Airport Formalities   Where to Go in the Airport  Location of JNU  Railway Station  Campus

WELCOME TO DELHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OR RAILWAY STATION - now what?

• Duty free allowance: Rs. 12,000 (foreigners residing in India), Rs. 4,000 (tourists) for personal use or gifts. Max. 200 cigarettes (or 50 cigars or 250 gm tobacco), and 1 litre liquor/wine, 5 film rolls, 1 radio, 1 tape recorder, 1 laptop. Drugs, narcotics and firearms are not allowed.

• No Rupees may be brought into India.

• If you do not have a valid yellow fever certificate (WHO) when coming from South America, Papua New Guinea or Africa, in the last 6 days (even in transit), you may be put into quarantine (up to 6 days) on arrival.
  

- When leaving the plane.

(don't forget to take all your handluggage from the plane)

KEEP READY:

• passport
• Disembarkation Card
• admission letter from JNU
• scholarship letter from ICCR (if any)
• your flight ticket with luggage tags
• a pen
• money (if you want to buy something in the duty free shops - check the maximum allowed quantities of cigarettes and alcohol) to change into Indian Rupees for a Prepaid Taxi or a telephone call from the Arrival Hall (only NEW 1 Rupee coins).

Where to go?

1. When you leave the airplane you arrive at the immigration counter: show your passport with the student/research visa (and prepare your letter of admission from JNU as well as your scholarship letter from ICCR, just in case). You have to give the Disembarkation Card which you have filled in. You have to get an entry date stamp in your passport.

2. You move on to the conveyor belts where you luggage will arrive (hopefully): make sure you take your own luggage and check whether all pieces of luggage have arrived. Take a trolley and put your luggage on it.

   LOST/DAMAGED LUGGAGE: If your luggage did not arrive, the 'Lost Luggage' office is in between the conveyor belts and request the officer to go with you to double check whether you luggage may have been misplaced in the airport. In case it is lost, go back to the 'Lost Luggage" office and fill in all the forms for each piece of lost or damaged luggage (show your luggage tags with your flight ticket). Give a detailed description and indicate on the images of suitcases on the form where exactly the damage is.

   IMPORTANT:

   1. if you have a telephone number in Delhi of where you will be staying, give it to the 'Lost Luggage' officer. In any case, ask the name of the officer and the office telephone number.

   2. In case all your checked in luggage has not arrived, you have the right to claim compensation from the airline. On the spot they have to give you minimum Rs. 1,000 for expenditure regardless of which airline you flew. Insist that you get the money.

   3. You have to call the office every day thereafter. When you go to the airport to pick up the luggage, you have the right to claim back the expenditure for a round trip taxi fare.

   4. If your luggage is lost, you are entitled to compensation under the Warsaw Convention of about US $ 400, but certain airlines have reduced their liability.

3. With your luggage you proceed to the Customs counter where you have to give the slip at the bottom of your disembarkation card (fill it in). You may be asked to open your luggage for a search. (see list of the duty free allowance elsewhere - everything else may be taxed, use your negotiating skills.)

4. Now you will come to the Arrival Hall. In the first part you will see small booths on your left and your right side with sign boards on top. There is a Thomas Cook (red) booth on your left to change money and travellers' cheques. DO NOT BUY ANY OFFER FOR A PREPAID TAXI HERE.

5. Further you see all the waiting people. This is the end of the Arrival Hall.

6. If you are an ICCR scholarship holder and you have sent ICCR a message in advance you will find your name on a signboard held by an ICCR official; go with the person to the car and he will drive you free of cost to the International Youth Hostel (or to JNU during the day if you want).

   IMPORTANT:

   1. ICCR will NOT pay for a taxi if you are not picked up by ICCR at the airport.

   2. The stay in the International Youth Hostel is at YOUR expense, ICCR will not pay for it (price: see "Short term accommodation").
   3. ICCR may put you up in the ICCR hostel next to the ICCR office (near ITO).
      

7. If you want to make a phone call, there are yellow public phone booths on the sides of the Arrival Hall, but you need NEW 1 Rupee coins to use them.

8. You will see at the end of the arrival hall on your left side three booths for Prepaid taxi:  "PREPAID TAXI LOCAL". Make sure you choose the Delhi Police (Public) prepaid taxi booth and NOT the private one.
   

   You simply ask for "JNU" and pay about Rs. 200 (day tariff) or Rs. 250 (10h30 pm - 5 am). The man will ask you:

   • how many pieces of luggage?
   • your name? (give a short simple name)

   And he will give you a slip of paper with a number on. That number is the numberplate of your taxi.

9. There are only two exits, one to the left and one to the right at the end of the arrival hall. You go to the RIGHT side and leave the building.

10. You exit the building and pass all the waiting people outside.  The taxis are parked behind the waiting people. ONLY USE THAT TAXI WHICH NUMBERPLATE YOU HAVE AND DO NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER OFFER BY TAXI DRIVERS. Only when you arrive in JNU you give the driver the slip of paper. DO NOT GIVE HIM MONEY, even if he insists 'for (carrying) the luggage' etc - that's why it's called 'prepaid'.

    The cheapest way to travel to JNU is by bus. Walk away from the airport towards the main road and catch any bus direction MAHIPALPUR. Under the Mahipalpur flyover you get down, turn right and get any bus (e.g. 715) towards VASANT KUNJ where you get down under the Vasant Kunj flyover and you walk left on NELSON MANDELA ROAD (at the end of which you find the JNU campus on the right side). Catch a rickshaw from there towards JNU.

JNU is situated in the south-west of Delhi (see Maps), 12 km from IGI, 15 km from CP, 18 km from New Delhi Railway Station, 18 km from ITO (ICCR is here), 23 km from ISBT and 7 km from Chanakyapuri (most embassies are here, see Embassies).

Taxi

Go to the entrance of the railway station (towards platform 1) known as the "PAHARGANJ" side. outside the building, on the parking lot in front you find the official 'PREPAID TAXI" booth. You ask for "JNU" and you will get a slip of paper. Give it only when you have arrived in the JNU campus.

Bus

Go to the other entrance of the railway station (opposite side of platform 1) called " AJMERI GATE" and take a cycle rickshaw to the 615 bus terminus; this is a 5 minutes' ride, you pay 20-25 Rupees. There you take the 615 bus which takes you to the JNU campus. You buy a ticket inside the bus (15 Rupees).

If you arrive during the working hours on a weekday, you can start your registration immediately. Ask the taxi driver to drop you on the JNU campus at the Administration Building (everybody will indicate you where it is) and there you ask any of the students assisting new students to register where to go and what to do with your luggage. You will be allotted a hostel room the same day.