Hi,
I'm a Nationals qualified rifle shooter who had to run from govt office to govt office, police station to police station, DC Office to Police Commissioners's office and what not before finally recieving the coveted Indian arms license.
Some people will ask you to bribe officials.. some will say you need connections. Some will say you need both.
They aren't wrong, honestly speaking.
I will share what I did and honestly that seems to have the best possible outcome for me.
Join a shooting club, become a sports shooter.
If you qualify at the state levels, which honestly isn't THAT difficult if you practice regularly, you can apply for an "Aspiring Shooter" category license. The thing is, it might take time, but you WILL end up getting the AS license if you're a proper, registered sports shooter.
If you qualify at the Nationals like I did, after qualifying in Zonals of course, the license which you'll get - and you WILL get one - is THE most liberal arms license one can possess in India. The Renowned Shooter or Renowned Shot license.
8+2 firearms, all India validity, 1,00,000 ammo permit annually and 50,000 rounds can be possessed at one time.
Otherwise, you pull some strings, cough up some heavy money and run from pillar to post to get what? A district level 2 weapon license with possibly 200 rounds upper limit per year and maybe 15 round carry permission? (I'm not sure about the exact ammo limit numbers on a regular arms license, so I request more knowledgeable IFGians to correct me.. I do think I'm in the ballpark though, right?)
You would need to apply for permission to just carry it to a different district if you have a district license, or across state borders if you have a state level license.
The RS gets a license with All India validity.
10 firearms (8 sports, 2 for personal carry)
100,000 limit.
50,000 carry limit.
See the difference?
I'm not boasting or gloating. I'm showing you actual facts. What you will recieve vs how much effort you'll put in. What I got for my efforts, both towards shooting well and then later towards bugging the govt officials regularly until they caved in
My suggestion is, join the friendly neighborhood state level shooting association, practise couple of days a week, for a year. Get great at shooting and also end up with a juicy pan India license. I mean what will you do even if you manage to get hold of a license, a firearm and then you can't hit the broadside of a barn door, coz you're out of practice? You'll need to stay trigger-fit too right?
Besides, you'll get ammo for practice at much cheaper rates at the association compared to buying from greedy arms dealers and shops.
It will anyway take a long time to get your license. There's no two ways about it. Honestly, it was easier to get a pretty lady to marry me than to get the darn arms license in India.
I'm my opinion, if you can manage the practice time, do this and get the best possible outcome for yourself.
Plus you'll feel great if you win any medals..I have a gold, a bronze and a silver medal. I haven't competed in 3 years, but they are one of my prized possessions.
Besides, you'll make dozens if not hundreds of shooter buddies.
What's to lose?
Go and join shooting!!
It's an amazing sport too.. you'll love it.
Plus you'll carry around that sports shooter identity like a badge of honour.
Best regards.
Dr Ankur Baruah.
Guwahati, Assam.
P.s. This is just my opinion. This isn't the only way or the best way. There is no best way in this. See what works best for you. This worked for me.
I'm also observant about the state of affairs in the country (political/religious tensions) as I recently came across some personal experiences of some women that were being driven home during the recent Haryana riots. Their windows were busted by stones and had a mob coming at them. Luckily, they had a good driver and sped off. 
