Indian Airlines, Limited or Indian is India's state owned primarily domestic airline, under the federal Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and based in New Delhi. Its main bases are Chennai International Airport, Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata and Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.On December 7, 2005 The company was rebranded as Indian for advertising purposes as a part of a program to revamp the company image in preparation for an IPO.[1] The airline operates closely with Air India, India's national flag carrier. Alliance Air is a fully owned subsidiary of Indian. On 22nd February 2007, a Group of Ministers (GoM) has approved the merger of state-owned carriers, Air India and Indian (Indian Airlines Ltd).

The airline was set up under Air Corporations Act, 1953 with an initial capital of Rs.32 million and started operations on 1 August 1953. It was established after legislation came into force to nationalise the entire airline industry in India. Two new national airlines were to be formed along the same lines as happened in the United Kingdom with BOAC and BEA. Air India took over international routes and Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) took over the domestic and regional routes. Seven former independent domestic airlines: Deccan Airways, Airways-India, Bharat Airways, Himalayan Aviation, Kalinga Air Lines, Indian National Airways, Air Services of India, were merged to form the new domestic national carrier. Indian Corporation inherited a fleet of 99 aircraft including 74 Douglas DC-3 Dakotas, 12 Vickers Vikings, 3 Douglas DC-4s and various smaller types from the seven airlines that made it up. Vickers Viscounts were introduced in 1957 with Fokker F-27 Friendships being delivered from 1961.The 1960s also saw Hawker Siddeley 748s, manufactured in India.

An Indian Airbus A320 at Bangalore in historic livery, taxiing away for departure to MumbaiThe jet age began for IAC with the introduction of the pure-jet Sud Aviation Caravelle airliner in 1964, followed by Boeing 737-200s in the early 70s. April 1976 saw the first three Airbus A300 wide-body jets being introduced. By 1990, Airbus A320s were introduced. The economic liberalisation process initiated by the Government of India in the early 1990s ended Indian Airlines' dominance of India's domestic air transport industry. Indian Airlines faced tough competition from Jet Airways, Air Sahara, East-West Airlines and ModiLuft. As of 2005, Indian Airlines was the second largest airline in India after Jet Airways while Air Sahara controlled 17% of the Indian aviation industry.

East-West Airlines and ModiLuft discontinued flight operations but the entry of several low-cost airlines in India like Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet continues to give competition in its market, forcing Indian to cut down air-fares. However, as of 2006, Indian Airlines is still a profit making airline. In the face of increasing domestic competition, the airline is about to undergo restructuring of its organisation, management and finances, with a view to issuing an initial public offering in 2006. It has recently been renamed to 'Indian'. The airlines new logo is said to be contemporary graphic representation wheel of Sun temple at Konark in Orissa State. Indian Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, announced Government of India's plan to merge Air India and Indian into one giant airline consisting of 130-140 aircraft. This could take place anytime from the end of 2006 to the middle of 2007.