The hobby of Amateur Radio operation was introduced in India by some officers of the Signal Corps who were issued the Amateur licences and an Amateur Radio club was also started by them at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh which is the head quarters for the Signal Corps of the Indian Army. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, Government of India gave Amateur Radio licences mostly to persons from the Indian Army.
A few civilians also managed to get licences in the 30’s. In 1942 some of the civilian Amateur Radio operators took part in the Quit India movement and their licenses were cancelled. After independence a few Defence personnel and civilians managed to get an amateur radio licences and the hobby started growing.

The first Indian amateur radio operator in India was Amarendra Chandra Gooptu (callsign 2JK), licensed in 1921. Later that year, Mukul Bose (2HQ) became the second ham operator, thereby introducing the first two-way ham radio communication in the country. By 1923, there were twenty British hams operating in India. In 1929, the call sign prefix VU came into effect in India, replacing three letter call signs.

In 1954 a group of them founded the Amateur Radio Society of India and registered it in Delhi. This Society continued to function from this address till the late 80‘s, when the club and office were transferred to Chennai.

In 1995 Amateur Radio Society of India and the Federation of Amateur Radio Society of India (FARSI) were merged retaining only the name of (ARSI). After the merger, the Amateur Radio Society moved to Mumbai and functioned at the premises of VU2ST, Saad Ali, till he was alive. After his demise the society functioned from Mumbai and Delhi.

The Annual General Body Meeting of the Society is held every year where the annual accounts and a report of all the activities of the society are presented to the members. Elections of the office bearers is done every 2 years during the AGM. The current Registered Office of the society is:

Amateur Radio Society of India
c/o Ramesh Kumar VU2LU
635, 6th Main Road, Next to Bank of India
Hanumanthnagar, Bangalore-560019.
ARSI Club Callsign is VU2ZH

ARSI promotes the general advancement and diffusion of knowledge of science and practice of Electronics and Radio Communication and to facilitate these aims ,coordinates with the Governmental Agencies like the WPC with regards to rules and regulations.

Many changes in the rules and regulations and the allocation of spectrum to Indian Radio Amateurs has come about due to the constant interaction by ARSI with the governmental agencies.

ARSI publishes a quarterly newsmagazine Ham Radio News which is available on this site as a PDF file.