India updates child passport validity and fees

Under the amended rules published in the government gazette on Sept. 17, a 36-page ordinary passport issued to a child under 15 will now be valid for five years from the date of issue or until the child turns 18, whichever comes first. That means a passport can expire before the full five years if the child reaches adulthood sooner, forcing an application for an adult passport.

The ministry also updated fee rules, saying charges will follow Schedule IV of the passport regulations. The revised fee list puts a standard 36-page passport at 2,500 rupees, a tatkal or expedited 36-page passport at 5,000 rupees, a 60-page passport at 3,500 rupees and a tatkal 60-page passport at 6,000 rupees. For children under 15, the 36-page passport fee is 1,750 rupees, while the tatkal version is 3,000 rupees.

For investors, the main read-through is not to a single listed company but to India’s broader travel ecosystem. Cheaper and clearer passport rules can support outbound travel demand over time, aiding airlines, online travel agents and booking platforms that depend on cross-border mobility. That includes companies such as MakeMyTrip and Yatra, which are tied to travel volumes and discretionary spending.

The change also fits a wider pattern of travel-rule updates aimed at streamlining documentation rather than tightening it. For households, the immediate impact is lower paperwork burden for children’s travel. For the state, the trade-off is more frequent adult passport transitions once minors turn 18, but less administrative churn for routine pediatric renewals.

Market watchers will now look for whether the new fee structure and validity rules are followed by further passport-processing reforms, and whether broader travel demand benefits show up in booking and airline activity into the next peak holiday and school travel seasons.