I am in coversation with Atul Chitnis, who appears to have started the first BBS in India (in December of 1989). His system (CIX) ran until 1999, making it not only the first but likely the longest-running BBS in the country.

Atul tells me "In India, *any* attachments to phonelines other than the department supplied ancient rotary phone instruments was illegal. In the the early 90s, the Telegraph act of 1857 (Yes, you read right - we are ruled by a telecom act from the 19th century) was ammended to allow attachments, but on payment of a license fee. This fee was Rs.300 per year for modems, Rs.10,000 for faxes, etc."

This explains why the first BBS in India could happen so relatively late.