The Central Industrial Security Force (established in its present form: June 15, 1983) is a paramilitary security force in India.

It was set up under an act of Parliament on March 10, 1969 with a strength of 2,800. CISF was subsequently made an armed force of the Union of India by another act of Parliament passed on June 15, 1983. Its current strength is 105,000.The strength will be raised to 145,000 by 2-3 years.

It is directly under the federal Ministry of Home Affairs and its headquarters are at New Delhi.

The CISF provides security cover to 269 industrial units located all over India. Industrial Sectors like Atomic Power Plants, Space Installations, Defence Production Units, Mints, Oil Fields and Refineries, Major Ports, Heavy Engineering, Steel Plants, Barrages, Fertilizer units, Airports and Hydro electric/thermal power plants, Indian border, Plants producing Indian currency are protected by CISF. Most of these installations are located in difficult terrains of the country with harsh climatic conditions.

CISF also provides consultancy services to private industries as well as other organizations within the Indian government. The consulting wing has amongst its clients some of the renowned business houses and organisations of India including TISCO Jamshedpur; SEBI Hqrs. Mumbai; Vidhana Soudha,Bangalore; Orissa Mining Co.,Bhubaneswar; AP Assembly, Hyderabad; Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corp., HIL Kerala, IARI, Delhi; NBRI, Lucknow and Electronics City, Bangalore. The scope of CISF's consulting practice includes security consulting and fire protection consulting.

Central Industrial Security Force

Airport Security

The CISF controls airport security at all commercial airports in India. Airport security, in the past, was under the control of the Airport Police (under the State Government). However, following the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in 1999, the topic of handing over security of the airports to the CISF was first proposed. While this proposal lay low for the next two years, the Central Government woke up to the security threat after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States of America and decided to implement the suggestion. The Jaipur Airport was the first airport that came under the CISF's control on 03rd feb 2000. Following this, majority of the commercial airports in India were brought under its purview. ^[3]. As of now CISF is protecting a total of 54 international and domestic airports in the country.

Uniqueness

CISF is unique as a Force of its kind in that it has a well trained Fire Wing comprising 4625 Officers and personnel giving Fire Protection to 77 industries. As of 2006, it remains one of the largest central paramilitary forces in India with strength of nearly 105,000 with perhaps no parallel in the entire world for a Government agency providing security to such a large number (269) industries with thousands of million rupees worth of assets. It is shaping up as an elite Force protecting the critical infrastructure of India. It is unique due to multifunctional duties and best performance

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