.IN is the new country level top level domain on the web. The governement of India launched the .in or .co.in domain names for websites and e-mail IDs to popularise Indian identity in the world. The INRegistry, the official .IN registry, has been created by NIXI, the National Internet eXchange of India, as an autonomous body with primary responsibility for maintaining the .IN ccTLD and ensuring its operational stability, reliability, and security. Companies, individuals, and organizations in India and abroad are eligible to apply for these domain names.
When did it start?
Domain registration began for domestic and multinational companies from new year till January 21, 2005 for firms who have trademarks – The sunrise period. This process started offline to enable companies to get .in which is the official domain name of India. From February 16, 2005 the .in domain name is available for registration without any restriction.
.IN Domain Name Registrars
INRegistry does not carry out registrations itself. Instead, it accredits registrars through an open process of selection on the basis of transparent eligibility criteria. Initially the government appointed four registrars for .in domain registration OnlineNIC, Net4India, Direct and Good Luck to speed up process. The list of accredited .IN domain registrars can be found here. When the government gave its nod, the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) started registering ‘.in’ domains.
Register a .IN Domain Name
A whois search can be done to see if the domain name you are interested in is available.In addition to .in, there are several second level domains also available like .co.in, .net.in, .firm.in, .ind.in, and .org.in.
National Informatics Centre (NIC) is the exclusive registrar for gov.in domain names for Indian government organizations. ERNET is the exclusive registrar for ac.in, edu.in, and res.in domain names for academics and for educational institutes.
So register your .IN domain name and show your pride for India.