Previous estimates from India's National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) had put the HIV caseload at 5.2 million while UNAIDS in 2006 estimated 5.7 million cases.

"Today we have a far more reliable estimate of the burden of HIV in India," said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.

"The results show that there are an estimated two million to 3.1 million people affected with HIV-AIDS," Ramadoss told a news conference in the Indian capital.

International health organisations have for years worried about the possibility of a South Africa-style AIDS epidemic in India but the new figures being mentioned would suggest a fairly low infection rate.