Power Banks, Liquids & What You Can Carry on a Flight from India
Indian airport security has a handful of rules that trip people up on almost every flight, and a few are stricter here than abroad. Here is a plain rundown of what travels in your cabin bag, what has to go in the hold, and what you simply cannot bring on a flight from India.
First, the basic allowance. In economy on most Indian carriers you get one hand bag of up to seven kilograms, within about 55 by 35 by 25 centimetres, plus one small personal item such as a laptop bag or handbag. This one-bag limit follows a longstanding BCAS rule, and airlines can be strict about it on full flights, so weigh your cabin bag at home. Beyond the size and weight, though, most of the surprises are about what is inside it. That is what the rest of this guide covers.
The rules, item by item
Power banks
Power banks must go in your cabin bag, never in checked luggage. Up to 100 watt-hours is fine; between 100 and 160 Wh usually needs the airline's approval. Many Indian airlines now also ask you not to use or charge a power bank during the flight, so keep it packed away once on board.
Spare lithium batteries
Loose lithium batteries ride in the cabin, not the hold. Tape over the terminals or keep each one in its own pouch so nothing can short against keys or coins.
Liquids, gels and pastes
On international flights the 100 ml rule applies: each container 100 ml or less, all together in one clear resealable bag. Anything bigger goes in checked baggage. The CISF restricted-articles list puts it as liquids, aerosols, gels and pastes "in one clear transparent re-sealable one liter size plastic bag. Each item should, however, not exceed 100 ml in quantity", with an explicit exception for "Medicine/inhaler accompanied by prescription and baby food".
Lighters and matches
On Indian flights, lighters and matchboxes are not allowed in your cabin bag or in checked baggage. There is no safe place to pack them, so leave them at home.
E-cigarettes and vapes
E-cigarettes and vapes have been banned in India since 2019. Do not carry them at all: not in the cabin, not in the hold, and not on your person, as possession itself is an offence in India.
Knives, scissors and sharp tools
Knives, long-bladed scissors, razor blades and tools must go in checked baggage, not the cabin. A small blunt pair of scissors and a cartridge razor are usually fine to carry on, but anything with an exposed blade is not.
Medicines
Medicines are allowed in your cabin bag. Carry the prescription or the doctor's note for anything you might be asked about, especially injectables or controlled medicines on international trips.
Food and snacks
Packed food is fine to carry. Large amounts of homemade liquids and pastes such as pickles or ghee count as liquids on international flights, so pack those in checked baggage to avoid a hold-up at security.
Aerosols, perfumes and deodorants
Personal aerosols, perfumes and deodorants are allowed in small quantities, within the usual 100 ml per container limit on international flights. Large or pressurised cans can be refused, so keep the full-size ones for checked baggage.
Drones
Drones are not cabin items and are treated as restricted. They generally need to be declared and carried in checked baggage, and flying one in India requires registration and permits. Several airlines and airports have their own limits, so confirm before you travel rather than find out at the security belt.
How much cabin baggage each airline actually allows
"7 kg" is the number everyone quotes, and on its own it is misleading, because the airlines differ on what that 7 kg includes. We read four carriers' own baggage pages on 23 August 2026:
| Airline | Weight | Max dimensions | Separate personal item? |
|---|---|---|---|
| IndiGo | 7 kg | 55 × 35 × 25 cm (115 cm total) | Yes — one personal article in addition |
| Air India | 7 kg (10 kg in Business/First) | 55 × 40 × 20 cm (115 cm total) | Yes — "one carry-on bag plus one additional small personal item" |
| SpiceJet | 7 kg | Boeing 55 × 35 × 25 cm; Q400 turboprop only 50 × 35 × 23 cm | No — the 7 kg "includes the weight of an additional laptop bag, ladies' purse, or duty-free shopping bag" |
| Emirates | 7 kg | 55 × 38 × 22 cm | Not in Economy. Boarding in India: one piece only, max 115 cm total |
That third row is the single most useful line in this guide. On IndiGo or Air India your laptop bag rides free alongside the 7 kg cabin bag. On SpiceJet it does not — the laptop bag, the handbag and even the duty-free bag all count inside the same 7 kg. If you habitually fly IndiGo and then book a SpiceJet flight, that is where you get caught at the gate. And if your SpiceJet flight is on a Q400 turboprop, the bag itself has to be smaller too.
One more thing worth knowing: the "only one piece of hand baggage" rule at Indian airports is not the airline being difficult. Air India cites its legal basis directly — BCAS's "One Hand Baggage Rule", Circular 6/2000 of 24 February 2000 — and notes it applies to every class of travel regardless of frequent-flyer status.
Duty-free liquids and connecting flights
Liquids you buy after security, in the duty-free shop, are allowed past the 100 ml rule because they come sealed in a tamper-evident bag with the receipt inside. The catch is connections: if you have a layover and pass through security again, especially in another country, that sealed bag can be questioned or confiscated unless it is still sealed and the receipt is visible. If you are connecting, it is safer to buy that bottle at your final stop rather than at the start.
A couple of things worth knowing
Most big Indian airports have dropped the old hand-baggage stamp in favour of CCTV monitoring, though a few smaller ones still stamp the cabin tag or your boarding pass, so hold on to your boarding pass until you are on the plane either way. These rules are set by the BCAS, the country's civil aviation security regulator, and can be tightened by individual airlines, so if you are carrying anything unusual, a quick look at your airline's baggage page before you fly saves a surprise at the gate. When in doubt, the safe default is simple: anything with a battery, a blade or a flame is a problem in the wrong bag, so think about those before you zip up. New to all of this? Our first-time flyer guide for India walks through the whole airport process step by step.
Sources: the 100 ml liquids rule and the items barred from the cabin are published by the Airports Authority of India; the cabin-baggage weight allowance and the BCAS one-hand-bag rule are set out on the IndiGo and Air India baggage pages.
Sources, all checked 23 August 2026. Cabin allowances from the airlines' own pages, linked in the table above. The liquids rule as enforced at Indian airports: the CISF restricted-articles list. Power banks and spare batteries: DGCA Dangerous Goods Advisory Circular 01/2025 (11 Nov 2025) — there is a fuller breakdown in the power bank guide. E-cigarettes are banned in India by statute, not just by airline policy: the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019 (No. 42 of 2019). Rules change; if something here is out of date, tell me.